Cisco Security Agent

Foreword

I encountered computer and network security very early in my career. My first job out of college in the early 1980s was with the National Security Agency, and two things immediately became clear. First, the government—and especially the Defense Department—were about the only people who were remotely interested in computer security. Second, there were a lot of ways that security could go wrong.

Some things have changed dramatically since then. Everyone is aware of computer security issues to some degree now, even if this awareness is only about viruses and spyware. It is both gratifying and concerning to now be able to explain my job to my mother in 10 seconds (“You know the hackers? We re trying to stop them”).

However, some things have ...