Our Reading List

Several of you asked us to list the books we read from when we lead discussions. These are the ones we've used in class, plus a few of our favorites. Tom chose some, and Matt chose the rest. In any case, we both recommend these.

• Saul Alinsky, Reveille for Radicals, Vintage Books
  The classic analysis of organization for social improvement. Many of the techniques Alinsky discusses can be adapted to attacking systems--or defending them.
• Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, Vintage Books
  How the Have-Nots can organize to change society. Like Alinsky's other book, the rules are applicable to computer security.
• James Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, Viking Press
  A book on the history of the NSA.
• Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man, Vintage Books
  The struggle between the killer Ben Reich, the 24th century's richest man, and Lincoln Powell, the police prefect with ESP, is like a cat-and-mouse game between an attacker and computer security folks. This classic science fiction book won the first Hugo for Best Novel.
• John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider, Ballantine Books
  A science fiction novel about a future in which data about everyone is stored in a ubiquitous information network. Many of the terms used with malicious logic, such as virus, were first used here.
• James Burton, The Pentagon Wars, United States Naval Institute
  A study of how a group of reformers tried to test and improve some weaponry, and what happened. A wonderful and eye-opening description of bureaucratic in-fighting.
• Dorothy Denning, Information Warfare and Security, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
  Good background on issues we discussed in class, nice presentation. Mentions some Matt Bishop guy.
• Simson Garfinkel, Eugene Spafford, Practical UNIX and Internet Security, O'Reilly and Associates
  An excellent book on UNIX security.
• Jean Guisnel, Cyberwars: Espionage on the Internet, Plenum Press
  Written by a Frenchman, so an interesting non-US perspective.
• Charlie Kaufman, Radia Perlman, Mike Speciner, Network Security: Private Communications in a Public World, Prentice-Hall Publishing Company
  Excellent examples of DES and I think probably the most readable textbook I've found on the subject, without skimping too terribly much on details. I like their treatment of the subject matter a lot.
• Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Penguin Books
  Its study of rulers applies not only to princes, but also to organizations and environments in general.
• Eric Frank Russell, Wasp, Tor Books
  A science fiction novel in which a lone agent is dropped on an enemy planet. His job: cause chaos.
• Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon, Avon Books
  Good discussion of World War II cryptography, and real world/wartime issues involving security of communications, etc. Great mathematical perspective.
• Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, Spectra Books
  Okay, this one's more marginally computer security related, but it has a virtual reality interface figuring prominently into the plot, and deals with issues of networking through metaphor.
• Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Delta
  A classic text on warfare, many of its principles can be translated into cyberwarfare.
• Vernor Vinge, Fire Upon the Deep, Tor Books
  Superb science fiction book with computer security applications.
• Vernor Vinge, True Names, Tor Books
  First real cyberpunk book; Gibson got credit for this sort of work.