Book details of 'Netspionage: The Global Threat to Information'

Title	Netspionage: The Global Threat to Information
Author(s)	William C. Boni, Gerald L. Kovacich
ISBN	0750672579
Language	English
Published	September 2000
Publisher	Butterworth-Heinemann

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Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
In the preface, the authors state that this book is different from all the others because it points out that the Internet can make it easy and cheap to steal information. While this fact may be new to Boni and Kovacich, it shouldn't come as a big surprise to many other people. The preface also states that this text will teach you how to filch data from other people, and then closes by hoping that the work will ensure the security of Internet use. (We are also told that the book is based on seminars that the authors give, which probably explains a large number of illustrations that don't explain anything.) Part one seems to want to be a kind of historical perspective on the factors creating the current situation. Chapter one lets us in on the fact that lots of people are fighting with and spying on each other. Computers and high technology have been invented and are being used, according to chapter two. The analysis of the Internet's potential for criminal misuse, in chapter three, is slightly less simplistic, but fails to provide anything like a full picture. Chapter four is a rather mixed bag, stating that information is important, that there is a "new world order," and that e-business exists. A lot of space is devoted to definitions of espionage, and how it used to be done, in chapter five, but the book does finally start to mention some random points on data security at this point. Part two is probably supposed to be the "how to" section of the book. Chapter six dives back into the dictionaries but fails to give a solid definition of "competitive intelligence." The only actual examples of information gathering in chapter seven involve the use of phone books and trash, not the net. A few actual espionage tools, a number of useful tools that a spy might conceivably also want to use, and a lot of insistence that netspionage is possible makes up chapter eight. Chapter nine briefly describes some alleged and some prosecuted cases of espionage, but details are almost non-existent. Part three talks about protection against espionage. Chapter ten presents a very basic outline for starting discussion of data security issues. Chapter eleven goes slightly further in assessing risks and threats. The suggestion to undertake retaliation and vigilante action, tentatively though it is made in chapter twelve, is a really stupid idea. Not content with the usual short bit of blueskying, part four looks to the imaginary future. Chapters thirteen through seventeen take fanciful looks at the future of technology, business, espionage, government, and everything. This is yet another shrill voice crying in the marketplace and telling us what we already knew. It lacks detail, analysis, reality, and even an identifiable central theme. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2000
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Book description:

This book begins by laying out a history of espionage that clearly shows that when a new technology or technique becomes available to the information gatherers in public and private sectors, they can quickly be adopted for Netspionage use. It then moves on to describe how the Internet and associated technologies have already revolutionized the collection and analysis of competitive information. The convergence of dependency on networked and exploitation tools (often propagated by "hackers", "cyberpunks" and even intelligence agencies) has already resulted in several incidents that foreshadow the perilous future. Close study of these incidents demonstrates how difficult yet how important it is to confront the challenges of "netspionage" and it's less intrusive cousins. The author's present a set of the known incidents and then outline protective measures that will reduce the potential and consequences of netspionage.Unlike most security books, this one is written for managers and executives in non-protection roles of the organization, since they are the ones who must take a leadership role in safeguarding the information assets of the networked enterprise.*Practical guide written from front-line experience*Explains the evolution of information collection and why it has never been easier*Highlights the tools of the trade and how they can be put to best use