BOOK REVIEW: "I-Way Robbery"

[mea culpa <jericho () DIMENSIONAL COM>]

From: "Rob Slade, doting grandpa of Ryan and Trevor" <rslade () sprint ca>

BKIWAYRB.RVW   990711

"I-Way Robbery", William C. Boni/Gerald L. Kovacich, 1999,
0-7506-7029-0, U$34.95
%A   William C. Boni
%A   Gerald L. Kovacich
%C   225 Wildwood Street, Woburn, MA  01801-2041
%D   1999
%G   0-7506-7029-0
%I   Butterworth-Heinemann
%O   U$34.95 781-904-2500 fax: 781-904-2620 http://www.bh.com
%P   240 p.
%T   "I-Way Robbery: Crime on the Internet"

First off, the preface tells us that the book is aimed at security and law
enforcement professionals needing basic information about Internet
criminal activity.  Then the text is supposed to be good for protecting
corporate information systems connected to the net.  In addition, the
volume is promoted for college courses in information systems security
management and criminal justice.  Finally, small and home based businesses
are to use it in place of security personnel for protecting themselves
from I-way robbery.  A rather tall order for a fairly small book.

Chapter one traces history from Adam, through the agrarian age, via the
industrial age, to the information age, ending up in the Internet age
without having imparted much knowledge of any significance.  We are told,
in chapter two, that the Internet has had an impact on society.  A very
strained attempt is made, in chapter three, to draw a parallel between
rise of the gangs of the thirties (Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger, Capone,
ummm ...) prompted by the interstate highway system (built thirty years
later) and the rise in crime (left undefined)  prompted by the development
of the Internet.  Chapter four rigorously defines Internet crime as crime
involving the Internet.  The case for the importance of I-way robbery is
not made persuasively: aside from the usual diatribe on pornography, most
of the time is spent talking about online gambling.  A grab bag of people
who may (or may not) use computers for less than beneficent purposes is
listed in chapter five. Some potential targets are given in chapter six.
Chapter seven starts to touch on actual penetration techniques, and
includes such advanced technologies as the BASIC source code for a demon
dialer.  A collection of short references to news stories about crimes,
laws, and errors that have some tenuous connection to the net makes up
chapter eight.  An attempt to analyze the growth in I-way crime, in
chapter nine, has little significance since most of the foundational
material has not been clearly presented.  Protective measures are
mentioned in chapter ten, but without the conceptual background the text
is not of much use.  Given no groundwork upon which to build, chapter
eleven's look at the future can be nothing but blue sky speculation.

There are attempts at humour in the book.  Few do anything to support the
material under discussion, nothing is wildly funny, and most are difficult
to understand.  Page forty eight, for example, tells us that certain
information is based on "a SWAG (and we all know what those are!)"  (If
you don't know what they are don't feel stupid: you might want to take a
wild guess.)

The text is undisciplined, unfocussed, and difficult to understand.  Other
than presenting a vague warning about an ill-defined threat, it presents
no help to those who may need to protect information in an interconnected
world.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999 BKIWAYRB.RVW 990711

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