INFO[rmation fo]RENSICS

Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson – This week is a little different: fiction for a change.  The story line is good cyberpunk, but what really stands out in this novel is the concept of “memes“.  Stephenson’s presentation of ideas as social viruses (particularly religion) is incredibly thought provoking, and makes the read worthwhile.

While on the topic of Stephenson, there is a leading quote in his book “Diamond Life” credited to Sir Charles Petrie (the historian) from 1960.  This could have been written yesterday:

Moral reforms and deteriorations are moved by large forces, and they are mostly caused by reactions from the habits of a preceding period.  Backwards and forwards swings the great pendulum, and its alterations are not determined by a few distinguished folk clinging to the end of it.

- Sir Charles Petrie, The Victorians (1960)

Translucent Databases, Peter Wayner – This book is older by technology reference standards (2002), but I find the concepts in it to be critical for secure database design.  The amazing thing is how many databases with sensitive information don’t use these very simple techniques.  The book itself is only around 175 pages.  You can find it on the original author’s site here:  Translucent Databases

Chaos:  Making a New Science, James Gleick – If you can read this book without having your head spin with new ideas and concepts then you might be a zombie.  Mr. Gleick manages to describe key concepts and work being done in the field of  chaos  without bringing in thick math.  This book was a best seller and was nominated for the Pulitzer prize.  You can find the author’s website here: Chaos: Making a New Science

Weekly Reading List:

“The Right Way To Do Wrong”, Harry Houdini - Written to explore the depths of the underworld in 1906, there are some striking comparisons to modern day scams and thievery.  It is absolutely amazing how little things have changed.  You can find the text here: The Right Way To Do Wrong

How to Suck at Information Security, The SANS Institute – Very direct, and very true categorization of most commonly ignored reasons that infosec programs fail.  There is even a PDF cheat sheet available.
The info is here: How To Suck At Information Security

Verizon Wireless 2008 Data Breach Report – This has actually been out for a bit, but there is a lot of information to be gleaned from its pages.
The Verizon Wireless page for this is here: Data Breach Report
Richard Bejtlich has the best writeup I have seen on Verizon’s report:  TaoSecurity