About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Thomas Greene is well-known within the computer and security world for his work as Associate Editor of The Register- a British tech newspaper. This book is a great contribution to the home and small office market. The market is challenged with an increased need for security coupled with a decreased understanding- not a good combination. The challenge is to present security in terms the audience can understand and Greene does an excellent job of meeting that challenge.




Pros

• From Thomas Greene- respected Associate Editor of The Register
• Chapter dedicated to pros and cons of migrating to Linux
• Broad coverage of security in terms novices can understand

Cons

• None

Description

• Greene covers cybercrime, computer and network security and other IT subjects for The Register
• Broad range of coverage including discussion of open source tools and pros and cons of using Linux
• Greene's distinctive style shines through and helps make the information easier to understand
• Balances well between providing enough information, but in terms the audience can comprehend
• Quotes from Simple Nomad or Richard Thieme may be a little over the top for the target audience
• Check out http://basicsec.org for a sample chapter, links to downloads, free tools and more

Guide Review - Book Review: Computer Security

Thomas Greene is most well known for his articles on cybercrime, network and computer security and other information technology subjects for the British tech newspaper The Register. As Associate Editor and journalist for The Register he has a developed a distinctive style and a great reputation.

I have long said that more focus needs to be given to providing security tools and education to the home and small office computer user. Corporations have teams of people and expansive budgets to implement layered security solutions with administrators to monitor and enforce them, but home and small office users have neither the knowledge they need nor the budget to throw blindly into security.

Ironically, all of the money and effort corporations put into computer and network security could be rendered useless if a particularly virulent worm infects the millions of unprotected home users and bogs the Internet down to the point of crippling it.

Greene has seen this same gap in security and wrote this book to fill that gap. He covers a broad range of security topics in language and terms designed for computer security novices to be able to grasp and understand.

One thing this book does that is admirable is that it goes beyond the simple security and recommends open source and alternative solutions- even debating the use of Linux over Windows, giving the user an in depth look at their options.

Home users need this information and I recommend they check this book out.