Maximum Security, Third Edition

Chapter 1. Why This Book Was Written

In This Chapter

• The Need for Information Security

• The Root of the Problem

• Network and Host Misconfigurations

• Why Education in Security Is Important

• From the Eye of the Beholder

Sams published Maximum Security because there is a real need. In the remaining paragraphs, I'd like to explore that need.

Thousands of institutions, businesses, and individuals go online every day. This phenomenon—which has been given a dozen different names—is commonly called the Internet explosion. That explosion has drastically changed the Internet's composition.

A decade ago, personnel with at least basic security knowledge maintained most servers. That fact didn't prevent break-ins, of course, but they occurred rarely in proportion to the ...