Internet Forensics: Using Digital Evidence to Solve Computer Crime

For me, this is an excellent book! Like Mr. Herrington, I would not recommend it for everybody. But, if you have a technical background, like myself, and are intensely interested in the dynamics of the internet, then this book will complement your existing knowledge in more than one area. It is well-written, pithy and truly lives up to its title. Thank you, Mr. Jones

Do you have a professional interest in computer security; or are you a software developer and system administrator who take a broad interest in the Internet and how it works? Well, you're in luck! Author Robert Jones, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you how to find the clues left behind at an Internet crime scene. Jones, begins with an overview of spam, phishing, and the other threats to today's Internet. Then, he walks you through the tools and techniques to retrieve information about Internet addresses and domain names. The author continues by reviewing the structure of email messages, how spammers forge message headers, and what you can uncover in spite of their efforts to hide. He also reviews the many ways that con artists conceal their identities and how you can see through their disguises. He continues by dissecting the operation of Internet scams by studying the pages and directories that make up a web site. In addition, the author next deals with ways to uncover information about web servers and their operation by looking at the headers records of standard web transactions. Then, he looks at what you reveal about yourself every time you visit a web site and some of the ways in which you can protect your personal information. The author continues by looking at techniques to extract information that lies hidden within PDF and Word documents. He also reviews the collection of miscellaneous techniques. He also reviews the many ways to search for similar features across multiple files; thus, allowing you to link together different Internet scams. He continues by looking at two in-depth examples of Internet forensics at work. Finally, he discusses how to combat Internet fraud and how you can play a part. This excellent book will show you how to uncover information that lies hidden inevery email message, web page, and web server on the Internet. You will gain an understanding of how the Internet functions.

While it may seem impossible at times to hunt down spammers, this book offers some very good advice on doing just that. While pointing out that web sites and domains disappear quickly, the author discusses several different ways to find these people. While some parts of email headers can easily be spoofed, there are other parts that can still be tracked down. Again, time is of the essence here. After reading this book, I know I'll pay much closer attention to the headers on spam or phish email and apply what I've learned. The book lists a lot of different techniques to track down those on the "dark side" of the 'Net, such as how Internet addresses are assigned, the dig tool, host name lookups, also how some email headers (but not all) can be forged and how URLs can be forged. I also found out how domain names can get redirected. You can also "capture" a web page and look at the HTML source to find out more. On a side note, I was intrigued to find out about the "Wayback" machine, a web site that archives old web pages. While I have yet to find any of my old web sites I designed there, it's likely only a matter of time. Not only is this book a good resource for tracking down spammers and phishers, I also learned a few things about how browsers and web servers work as well as searching for similar things in multiple files (to link together seemingly different sites that likely can be tied back to a spammer). A lot of spammer web sites are gone within a few days or so, and the author points out any investigating you do should be done quickly. If you're "mad as hell" at bogus email clogging your in box (and who isn't?), this is a good book to have to fight back at those who send it out.

I read Mr. Jones's book with great interest. I started in the IT field working as an Internet Abuse Investigator for UUnet. I thought "I'll probably not learn anything new..." Boy I was wrong. The book was filled with helpful hints as well as ready to use Perl code. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in tracking scammers down.

Ever wanted to track down a spammer or someone sending you annoying emails, but didn't quite know where to start? Start here... Internet Forensics by Robert Jones. This was a really fun read... Contents: Introduction; Names and Numbers; Email; Obfuscation; Web Sites; Web Servers; Web Browsers; File Contents; People and Places; Patterns of Activity; Case Studies; Taking Actions; Index Unlike some of the internet security books I've read and reviewed, this one is actually understandable by those who aren't full-time network administration geeks. Jones examines the subject of tracking down computer crime (phishing, spam, etc.) by using forensic techniques to narrow down potential culprits. This isn't to say that there's a "follow these steps and nail the spammer" recipe that can be applied in all cases. Too many things can be forged, and spammers (in some cases) are pretty adept at hiding their tracks. But by learning how to read email headers, domain registrations, and patterns, you can learn more than you might expect. The nice thing about this book is that the information is explained in a clear fashion that doesn't rely on years of experience to follow. His explanation of mail headers and how to interpret them might be the first time I've ever actually understood what was going on. He also switches the view on some subjects (like web browsers) to help you understand how to better hide your own tracks to prevent others from finding out information about you. And if you're trying to track down someone who's abusing your site, hiding your own tracks might be critical in not causing him (or her) to bolt... Important information, and extremely practical. I guarantee you'll walk away with a couple things immediately that you can use, and over the long haul the book will more than pay for itself...