About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

I don't think its any secret that I find the Hacking Exposed series of books to be one of the best. This latest addition to the series is another example of why. Hacking Exposed- Windows Server 2003 will help you to learn how and why Windows Server 2003 might be vulnerable, how an attacker would go about discovering and exploiting those vulnerabilities and what you can do to protect your system.

Anyone administering Windows 2003 should definitely read this book.



Pros

• Another great addition to the Hacking Exposed series
• Filled with the latest and greatest information on Windows 2003 security
• Easy to read and understand format

Cons

• None

Description

• Each attack or vulnerability is ranked based on its popularity, simplicity and potential impact
• Each chapter contains a section with URL's for additional information and software tools
• Tips, Notes and Cautions help guide you to the most important aspects to focus on
• Case studies and real-world scenarios help illustrate how attacks work and how to defend yourself

Guide Review - Book Review: Hacking Exposed- Windows Server 2003

Hacking Exposed- Windows Server 2003 is the latest addition to the Hacking Exposed series of books. Joel Scambray and Stuart McClure have teamed up to create another excellent source of information to help you understand the weaknesses in your Windows Server 2003 system and what you can do to defend against them.

It may not be quite as gripping as a John Grisham novel, but the Hacking Exposed books are relatively easy to follow and understand.

The use of Tips, Notes and Cautions helps to highlight specific areas that deserve more attentions than others.

As with other books from the Hacking Exposed series, this one walks through how an attacker would locate and exploit your machine. It covers how to footprint and enumerate potential targets and then goes into comprehensive detail for the various attacks and vulnerabilities. Each attack or vulnerability is ranked based on its popularity, simplicity and potential impact to arrive at an overall risk rating.

This book covers the latest exploits and security measures for Windows Server 2003 including Windows-specific services such as MSRPC and IIS6. The authors also provide information on attacks against Terminal Services such as password guessing and privilege escalation as well as the latest DoS (Denial of Service) attacks.

New security features of Windows Server 2003 are covered as well- updates to IPSec, software restrictions and ICF (Internet Connection Firewall).

Anyone with Windows Server 2003 should read this book.