Publisher: No Starch Press Released: May 2006 Pages: 376
National bestseller with over 175,000 copies sold! If you thought hacking was just about mischief-makers hunched over computers in the basement, think again. As seasoned author Wallace Wang explains, hacking can also mean questioning the status quo, looking for your own truths, and never accepting at face value anything authorities say or do. The completely revised fourth edition of this offbeat, non-technical book examines what hackers do, how they do it, and how you can protect yourself. Written in the same informative, irreverent, and entertaining style that made the first three editions hugely successful, Steal This Computer Book 4.0 will expand your mind and raise your eyebrows. New chapters discuss the hacker mentality, social engineering and lock picking, exploiting P2P file-sharing networks, and how people manipulate search engines and pop-up ads to obtain and use personal information. Wang also takes issue with the media for "hacking" the news and presenting the public with self-serving stories of questionable accuracy. Inside, you'll discover: How to manage and fight spam and spyware How Trojan horse programs and rootkits work, and how to defend against them How hackers steal software and defeat copy-protection mechanisms How to tell if your machine is being attacked and what you can do to protect it Where the hackers are, how they probe a target and sneak into a computer, and what they do once they get inside How corporations use hacker techniques to infect your computer and invade your privacy How you can lock down your computer to protect your data and your personal information using free programs included on the book's CDIf you ve ever logged onto a website, conducted an online transaction, sent or received email, used a networked computer, or even watched the evening news, you may have already been tricked, tracked, hacked, and manipulated. As the saying goes, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you. And, as Wallace Wang reveals, they probably are.The companion CD contains hundreds of megabytes of 100% FREE hacking and security-related programs, like keyloggers, spyware stoppers, port blockers, IP scanners, Trojan horse detectors, and much, much more. CD compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. |
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The Early Hackers -
Chapter 1 The Hacker Mentality - Questioning Authority
- Questioning Assumptions
- Developing Values
- The Three Stages of Hacking
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Chapter 2 The First Hackers: The Phone Phreakers - A Short History of Phone Phreaking
- Phone Phreaking Urban Legends
- True and Verified Phone Phreaking Stories
- Phone Phreaking Tools and Techniques
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Chapter 3 Hacking People, Places, and Things - Social Engineering: The Art of Hacking People
- Picking Locks
- Exploring Urban Areas
- Hacking the Airwaves
- Hacking History (or, Hemp for Victory)
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The Pc Pioneers -
Chapter 4 Ansi Bombs and Viruses - The Making of an ANSI Bomb
- The Spread of Computer Viruses
- How Viruses Avoid Detection
- How Antivirus Programs Work
- Why People Write Viruses
- Finding virus-writing tutorials
- Virus-writing toolkits
- Virus Myths and Hoaxes
- Learning More About Viruses
- The Future Virus Threat
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Chapter 5 Trojan Horses and Worms - The World of Trojan Horses
- Worms: Self-Replicating Viruses
- Stopping Worms and Trojan Horses
- Tracking the Threats
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Chapter 6 Warez (Software Piracy) - Copying Copy-Protected Software
- Defeating Serial Numbers
- Defeating Product Activation
- Warez Websites
- Usenet Newsgroups: The New Piracy Breeding Ground
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The Internet Hackers -
Chapter 7 Where the Hackers Are - Hacker Websites
- Hacker Magazines
- Hacker Usenet Newsgroups
- Finding Hackers on IRC
- Hacker Conventions
- Don't Panic: Hackers Are People, Too
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Chapter 8 Stalking a Computer - Why Hackers Choose Their Targets
- Finding a Target
- The Next Step
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Chapter 9 Cracking Passwords - Password Stealing
- Dictionary Attacks
- Brute-Force Password Attacks
- Passwords: The First Line of Defense
- Blocking Access with Biometrics
- Good Enough Security
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Chapter 10 Digging into a Computer with Rootkits - How Operating Systems Work
- The Evolution of Rootkits
- Opening a Backdoor
- Sniffing for More Passwords
- Killing Rootkits
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Chapter 11 Censoring Information - Censoring the Internet
- The Internet Censors
- Censorship Begins at Home: Parental Control Software
- Avoiding Internet Censorship
- Reading Banned Books Online
- Is Anyone Censoring the Censors?
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Chapter 12 The Filesharing Networks - A Short History of Internet FileSharing
- How FileSharing Works
- Sharing Large Files
- The Problem with Filesharing
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The Real World Hackers -
Chapter 13 The Internet Con Artists - Charity Scams
- The Area Code Scam
- The Nigerian Scam
- Work-at-Home Businesses
- Pyramid Schemes
- The Lonely Hearts Scam
- Internet-Specific Con Games
- Online Auction Frauds
- Credit Card Fraud
- Protecting Yourself
- The Recovery Room Scam
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Chapter 14 Finding People on the Internet - Who Are the Stalkers?
- Stalking on the Internet
- Finding Personal Information on the Internet
- Stalking Celebrities
- Protecting Yourself
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Chapter 15 Propaganda as News and Entertainment - The News as Reality TV
- Corporate Influence on the News
- The News Only Reports the Facts—And Anything Else Anyone Will Tell Them
- The News as History
- Fear, Future, Fun, and Fakes: The Weekly World News as a Role Model for the News Media
- Using Satire to Report on Reality
- Blogs as News Sources
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Chapter 16 Hacktivism: Online Activism - Virtual Sit-ins and Blockades
- Email Bombing
- Web Hacking and Computer Break-ins
- Computer Viruses and Worms
- Activist Video Games
- Google Bombing
- Becoming a Hacktivist
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Chapter 17 Hate Groups and Terrorists on the Internet - Hate Groups on the Internet
- Racist Video Games
- Terrorism: The Communist Threat of the Twenty-first Century
- The Future of Terrorism
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The Future—Hacking for Profit -
Chapter 18 Identity Theft and Spam - Understanding Identity Theft
- Spam: Junk Mail on the Internet
- Why Companies Spam and How They Do It
- Protecting Yourself from Spammers
- How Spam Filters Work
- Stopping Spam
- Possible future solutions to spam
- A PostScript: Spam as Propaganda
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Chapter 19 Banner Ads, Pop-Up Ads, and Search Engine Spamming - Banner Ads and Click Fraud
- Pop-Up/Pop-Under Ads
- Watching Out for Web Bugs
- Spamdexing: Search Engine Spamming
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Chapter 20 Adware and Spyware - What Spyware Can Do
- Why Companies Advertise Through Spyware
- How Spyware Infects a Computer
- Where Spyware Hides
- Eliminating Spyware
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Protecting Your Computer and Yourself -
Chapter 21 Computing on a Shoestring: Getting Stuff for (Almost) Free - Internet Comparison Shopping
- Buying a Refurbished Computer
- Save on Printer Supplies
- Free (and Almost-Free) Software
- Free Internet Access
- Free Email Accounts
- Free Web and Blog Space
- The Best Things in Life Are Free
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Chapter 22 Computer Forensics: The Art of Deleting and Retrieving Data - Recovering Deleted Data
- File Shredders
- Storing Deleted Data
- Computer Forensics Tools
- Commercial Forensics Tools
- Protecting Yourself
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Chapter 23 Locking Down Your Computer - Protecting Your Computer (and Its Parts)
- Protecting Your Data
- What's Next?
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Appendix Epilogue -
Appendix What's on the Steal This Computer Book 4.0 CD - Uncompressing, Unzipping, Unstuffing, and So On
- Chapter 1—The Hacker Mentality
- Chapter 2—The First Hackers: The Phone Phreakers
- Chapter 3—Hacking People, Places, and Things
- Chapter 4—ANSI Bombs and Viruses
- Chapter 5—Trojan Horses and Worms
- Chapter 6—Warez (Software Piracy)
- Chapter 7—Where the Hackers Are
- Chapter 8—Stalking a Computer
- Chapter 9—Cracking Passwords
- Chapter 10—Digging into a Computer with Rootkits
- Chapter 11—Censoring Information
- Chapter 12—The Filesharing Networks
- Chapter 13—The Internet Con Artists
- Chapter 14—Finding People on the Internet
- Chapter 15—Propaganda as News and Entertainment
- Chapter 16—Hacktivism: Online Activism
- Chapter 17—Hate Groups and Terrorists on the Internet
- Chapter 18—Identity Theft and Spam
- Chapter 19—Banner Ads, Pop-up Ads, and Search Engine Spamming
- Chapter 20—Adware and Spyware
- Chapter 21—Computing on a Shoestring: Getting Stuff for (Almost) Free
- Chapter 22—Computer Forensics: The Art of Deleting and Retrieving Data
- Chapter 23—Locking Down Your Computer
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Updates -
Appendix Cd License Agreement -
No Warranty |
- Title:
- Steal This Computer Book 4.0, 4th Edition
- By:
- Wallace Wang
- Publisher:
- No Starch Press
- Formats:
-
- Print
- Ebook
- Safari Books Online
- Print:
- May 2006
- Ebook:
- August 2010
- Pages:
- 376
- Print ISBN:
- 978-1-59327-105-3
- | ISBN 10:
- 1-59327-105-0
- Ebook ISBN:
- 978-1-59327-343-9
- | ISBN 10:
- 1-59327-343-6
|
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Wallace Wang Best-selling computer book author Wallace Wang (The Book of Nero 6, Steal This File Sharing Book, both No Starch Press, and Visual Basic 6 for Dummies), is a former contributor to Boardwatch Magazine, where he wrote a monthly column called "Notes From the Underground." He is a successful stand-up comic who has appeared on A&E's "Evening at the Improv" and appears regularly at the Riviera Comedy Club in Las Vegas. View Wallace Wang's full profile page. |
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Customer Reviews
8/18/2011 (0 of 1 customers found this review helpful) 1/30/2007 (2 of 2 customers found this review helpful) 5.0Very entertaining, relatively non-technical, somewhat controversial By jdruin from Undisclosed |
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