No Starch Press to Release "Silence on the Wire"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact:	Patricia Witkin
patricia@nostarch.com
415.863.9900

TOP COMPUTER SECURITY RESEARCHER SHEDS NEW LIGHT
ON THREATS AND RISKS OF EVERYDAY COMPUTING

First book by Michal Zalewski unravels the mystery behind many security
and privacy dangers

December 15, 2004, San Francisco -- Michal Zalewski has long been known
and respected in the hacking and security communities for his
intelligence, curiosity and creativity. Unlike malicious hackers who
disrupt and harm computer systems for no purpose, Zalewski
(http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/) has made his name finding and resolving
security flaws and researching the undiscovered threats of tomorrow. In
"Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect
Attacks," Zalewski shares his expertise and experience to explain how
computers and networks work, how information is processed and delivered,
and what security threats lurk in the shadows. No humdrum technical white
paper or how-to manual for protecting one's network, this book is truly
unlike anything else out there. It's a fascinating narrative that explores
a variety of unique, uncommon and often quite elegant security challenges
that defy classification and eschew the traditional attacker-victim model.

Rather than approaching computer security as a separate discipline,
"Silence on the Wire" delves into the nuts and bolts of modern-day
computing so that readers will ponder network design and their own
computing activities from a new perspective. Where other books merely
chronicle security exploits, Zalewski provides explanations. He addresses
real, significant lapses in computer security that are not well known or,
in some cases, aren't even well understood by experts. More narrative than
reference book, "Silence on the Wire" follows the path of a piece of
information, from the moment the user's hands touch the keyboard to the
instant when it is received by a remote party on the other end of the
wire. Zalewski explains that these security concerns don't stem from a set
of isolated faults that can be worked around, but are issues associated
with every process and system and, therefore, they need to be understood
and studied in that context.

This book will be riveting reading for security professionals and students
as well as technophiles interested in learning about how computer security
fits into the big picture and high-level hackers seeking to broaden their
understanding of their craft. Mixing elements of computer science,
mathematics and electronics, "Silence on the Wire" is provocative and
challenging.

"Silence on the Wire" includes an introduction by Solar Designer, a noted
figure in the hacking community who also served as the book's technical
adviser. Among the attacks Zalewski describes are numerous unexpected data
interception and gathering scenarios, some of the more unexpected attacks
on cryptography and privacy, and others.

Among the book's contents:
- How a monitor screen can be read remotely via electromagnetic radiation
  it emits (Ch. 3: Ten Heads of the Hydra)
- How flashing lights on a router can give away information about data
  being transmitted (Ch. 5: Blinkenlights)
- How "idle" scanning allows others to locate vulnerabilities in a system
  and ways to camouflage against it (Ch. 13: Smoke and Mirrors)

"Michal's novel take on the whole issue of computer security makes
'Silence on the Wire' a valuable and informative resource, but it's also
just a great read," said No Starch Press founder Bill Pollock. "It's
eye-opening to learn how these attacks can be perpetrated and why security
needs to be a primary consideration in computer and network design."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michal Zalewski is a security researcher who has worked on topics ranging
from hardware and OS design principles to networking. He is also an avid
programmer and dabbles in the fields of chemistry, physics, applied
mathematics and electronics as well.

Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect
Attacks by Michal Zalewski
February 2005, 320 pp., $39.95, ISBN 1-59327-046-1
Available at fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or
directly from No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com,
800.420.7240).
No Starch Press titles are distributed throughout the U.S. by O'Reilly
Media.

ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS: Since 1994, No Starch Press has published unique
books on technology, with a focus on Open Source, security, hacking, web
development, programming, gaming and alternative operating systems. Our
titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books tackle
topics that people care about. More information is available at
www.nostarch.com.

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