Book details of 'Computer Security'

Title	Computer Security
Author(s)	Dieter Gollmann
ISBN	0471978442
Language	English
Published	February 1999
Publisher	John Wiley & Sons

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Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Gollmann is fairly explicit in stating the intention and audience for the book. It is to be a text for a course, rather than a handbook, encyclopedia, or history. It is about computer security, rather than information security in general, although there are sections on computer network security and database security. The objective of the course for which it was prepared is to give students a sufficient background to evaluate security products, rather than to address issues of policy or risk analysis. Thus the emphasis is on technical, rather than managerial, aspects. Part one lays the basic foundation for computer security. Chapter one outlines the fundamental vocabulary and concepts. Authentication is reviewed in chapter two. Examples from both UNIX and NT are used, in chapter three, to explain access control. Chapter four's discussion of security models requires a significant background in set theory, but for a course this can be assumed as a prerequisite. Considerations for hardware or operating system level security are looked at in chapter five. Part two examines security in the real world. Chapter six provides a good review of the UNIX security functions. Security aspects of NT are described in chapter seven, but the effective interaction of rights and permissions is not clear (a failing shared by most NT security texts). A variety of ways in which security has failed are detailed in chapter eight. This concludes with a section on computer viruses in quite different format and level of detail. The reason for this is not made clear, but I am willing to grant that most security texts do not treat the subject as well. Chapter nine talks about the evaluation of security products, but concentrates on the formal criteria laid down by governmental agencies. Part three looks at distributed systems. Chapter ten reviews specific systems, such as Kerberos and CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) security. Specific known Web vulnerabilities are effectively used to illustrate classes of threats in chapter eleven. The explanation of cryptography in chapter twelve is nicely balanced for mechanics; a full description without a morass of detail; but is somewhat weaker on key management and cryptographic strength. Network security, in chapter thirteen, deals with implementation level topics such as the IPSec (Internet Prototcol Security) protocols and firewalls. Part four deals with other aspects of security theory, primarily related to databases. Chapter fourteen and fifteen, respectively, discuss basic and advanced database security concepts. Problems of concurrent access, with applications in transaction processing, are examined in chapter sixteen. Security concerns of the object-oriented paradigm are raised in chapter seventeen. In terms of readability, Gollmann's writing is not always fluid, but it is always clear. While intended as a class text, the book is, in most parts, accessible to any intelligent reader. The exercises provided at the end of each chapter are not mere buzzword tests, although most are more suitable for discussion starters than checks for understanding. The bibliography is not annotated, but the "Further Reading" section at the end of each chapter helps make up for this shortcoming. Having to flip between two sections to find the referenced work is a bit awkward, but not unduly so. This is a very welcome addition to the general computer security bookshelf. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999
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Book description:

Computer Security .... the book I have been looking for for years .... Viiveke Fåk, Linköping University A comprehensive and practical text and the perfect starting point for this subject… ‘Is this system secure?’ seems, on the face of it, a straightforward question. Yet how one arrives at an answer is a process which poses a wide range of more complex questions which require a basic understanding of security mechanisms. Questions, such as:Should protection focus on data, operations or users?Whilst taking cast iron measures to build in security at one level, what does one do to prevent attackers gaining entry from a lower level?Starting with basic definitions and concepts, the first section of the book goes on to outline the mechanisms located at the heart of the computer system, mechanisms which provide the basis for techniques used in all other branches of the system. The second section examines the security features found in operating systems such as UNIX and Windows NT, catalogues security breaches, and introduces the topic of security evaluation. A third section is devoted to issues associated with distributed systems, such as network — and Web — security and considers cryptography as an essential technique for such environments. The final section of the book is constructed around database security, discussing problems in multi-level security, and examining security problems in specific settings. Written for self-study and course use, this book will suit a variety of introductory and more advanced security programmes for students of computer science, engineering and related disciplines. It meets a real need for a comprehensive textbook on the subject. Technical and project managers will also find that the broad coverage offers a great starting point for discovering underlying issues and provides a means of orientation in a world populated by a bewildering array of competing security systems.