Название: The Active Defender: Immersion in the Offensive Security Mindset
Автор: Catherine J. Ullman
Издательство: Wiley
Год: 2023
Страниц: 272
Язык: английский
Формат: epub (true)
Размер: 10.2 MB

Immerse yourself in the offensive security mindset to better defend against attacks.

In The Active Defender: Immersion in the Offensive Security Mindset, Senior Information Security Forensic Analyst Dr. Catherine J. Ullman delivers an expert treatment of the Active Defender approach to information security. In the book, you'll learn to understand and embrace the knowledge you can gain from the offensive security community. You'll become familiar with the hacker mindset, which allows you to gain emergent insight into how attackers operate and better grasp the nature of the risks and threats in your environment.

Protecting computers, networks, software programs, and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access is a difficult job, as evidenced by the fact that successful attacks continue to be on the rise. This book introduces the idea of the Active Defender as an alternative approach to the way cybersecurity defense has typically been practiced. The traditional approach is usually passive or reactive, waiting to respond to alerts or other indications of attack. The Active Defender, by comparison, is someone who seeks to understand a hacker mindset and embraces the knowledge gained from the offensive security community in order to be more effective. Offensive security entails testing the defensive mechanisms put in place to determine whether they can prevent attacks or at least detect them once they have occurred. Unfortunately, many defenders are either unaware of offensive security or choose to avoid it. By being ignorant of, or choosing to avoid, offensive security, defenders are missing half the larger story and thus are at a significant disadvantage. Immersion into the offensive security community helps the defender to have a broader, more comprehensive view of the effectiveness of their detections and defenses as well as providing many additional resources to further their understanding, which will be covered throughout the subsequent chapters.

The author immerses you in the hacker mindset and the offensive security culture to better prepare you to defend against threats of all kinds.

You'll also find:
• Explanations of what an Active Defender is and how that differs from traditional defense models
• Reasons why thinking like a hacker makes you a better defender
• Ways to begin your journey as an Active Defender and leverage the hacker mindset

Who Is This Book For?
This book is for anyone tasked with cybersecurity defense in general, those in the security‐specific roles such as information security analysts, SOC analysts, security engineers, security administrators, security architects, security specialists, and security consultants. It is also meant for people whose jobs involve aspects of security such as system administrators, networking administrators, developers, and people interested in transitioning to information security roles. Realistically, all information technology roles including, but not limited to, IT support, engineers, analysts, and database administrators are responsible for some elements of security, regardless of whether it is part of their formal job description. Everyone should be cognizant of the role they play in securing their environment rather than it being only the purview of one group.

Regardless of your security role, this book will help you shift from a traditional passive or reactive defensive mindset to cultivating a hacker mindset and becoming an Active Defender. As a result, you'll gain a more intimate understanding of the threats you're defending against.

Contents: