S2 Search · Reading list
Books from S2 Actual on Goodreads, organized by his shelves and topic buckets (intel lists, military history, logistics, etc.). Metadata filled via Open Library.
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12 books · Read · subject Cyber
John Arquilla
★★★★★Rand · 2001
Netwar―like cyberwar―describes a new spectrum of conflict that is emerging in the wake of the information revolution. What distinguished netwar is the networked organizational structure of its practitioners and their quickness in coming together in swarming attacks. To confront this new type of conflict, it is crucial for governments, military, and law enforcement to begin networking themselves.
James L. Young Jr.
★★★★☆Since 1972, the United States Air Force has argued that its operations against North Vietnam were unsuccessful primarily through a combination of civilian interference and poor strategic choices. Often citing the “success” of Operation Linebacker II as an example of what might have been had its leaders been given free rein, for almost fifty years the Air Force has maintained that its proper employment is the key to winning America’s wars. In Barren SEAD, award winning historian James L. Young Jr. propagates a different Instead of being a sign of what the Air Force was capable of, Linebacker II was a bitter failure that starkly outlined the USAF’s limitations. Furthermore, the meddling of the Johnson and Nixon Administrations played a minor role in this outcome. The USAF's defeat was not brought about by civilian meddling, but resulted from Air Force leaders’ refusal to develop a Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) doctrine from 1953-1972. Relying primarily on Air Force archival documents, memoirs, and contemporary doctrinal publications, Dr. Young illustrates just how dangerous the Air Force’s inability to nurture its SEAD capability was during this period of the Cold War. James L. Young Jr. holds a doctorate in U.S. History from Kansas State University and is a graduate of the United States Military Academy. Barren SEAD is his first non-fiction book. Previously he has won the United States Naval Institute's 2016 Cyberwarfare Essay Contest, runner up in the 2011 James Adams Cold War Essay Contest, and has had an essay selected by the U.S. Naval Heritage Command for its professional reading list. Dr. Young's other professional articles can be found in Armor Magazine, The Journal of Military History, and Proceedings. For those who prefer fiction, Dr. Young also writes alternate history (Usurper's War series / Phases of Mars anthologies) and military science fiction (Vergassy Universe).
David Hackett Fischer
★★★★☆Oxford University Press · 1995
Paul Revere's midnight ride is a legendary event in American history - yet it has been largely ignored by scholars, and left to patriotic writers and debunkers. Now one of the foremost American historians offers the first serious study of this event - what led to it, what really happened, what followed - uncovering a truth more remarkable than the many myths it has inspired. In Paul Revere's Ride, David Hackett Fischer has created an exciting narrative that offers new insight into the coming of the American Revolution. From research in British and American archives, the author unravels a plot that no novelist would dare invent - a true story of high drama and deep suspense, of old-fashioned heroes and unvarnished villains, of a beautiful American spy who betrayed her aristocratic British husband, of violent mobs and marching armies, of brave men dying on their doorsteps, of high courage, desperate fear, and the destiny of nations. The narrative is constructed around two thematic lines. One story centers on the American patriot Paul Revere; the other, on British General Thomas Gage. Both were men of high principle who played larger roles than recent historiography has recognized. Thomas Gage was not the Tory tyrant of patriot legend, but an English Whig who believed in liberty and the rule of law. In 1774 and 1775, General Gage's advice shaped the fatal choices of British leaders, and his actions guided the course of American events. Paul Revere was more than a "simple artizan, " as his most recent biographer described him fifty years ago. The author presents new evidence that revolutionary Boston was a world of many circles - more complex than we have known. Paul Revere and his friend Joseph Warren ranged more widely through those circles than any other leaders. They became the linchpins of the Whig movement. On April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere played that role in a manner that has never been told before. He and William Dawes were not the only midnight riders to ca
Michael Bazzell
★★★☆☆This book will serve as a reference guide for anyone that values privacy. Each technique is explained in simple steps. It is written in a hands-on style that encourages the reader to execute the tutorials as they go. I provide personal experiences from my journey to disappear from public view. Much of the content of this book has never been discussed in any publication. Always thinking like a hacker, I identify new ways to force companies to remove you from their data collection systems. This book exposes loopholes that create unique opportunities for privacy seekers. Among other techniques, you will learn Remove your personal information from public databases and people search websites Create free anonymous mail addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers Control your privacy settings on social networks and remove sensitive data Provide disinformation to conceal true private details Apply proper security to your computers using free resources Force data brokers to stop sharing your information with private and public organizations Prevent marketing companies from monitoring your browsing and shopping habits Remove your landline and cellular telephone numbers from online websites Use a credit freeze to eliminate the worry of financial identity theft and fraud Change your future habits to promote complete privacy and anonymity Conduct a complete background check to verify proper information removal
Christopher Hadnagy
★★★☆☆A global security expert draws on psychological insights to help you master the art of social engineering—human hacking. Make friends, influence people, and leave them feeling better for having met you by being more empathetic, generous, and kind. Eroding social conventions, technology, and rapid economic change are making human beings more stressed and socially awkward and isolated than ever. We live in our own bubbles, reluctant to connect, and feeling increasingly powerless, insecure, and apprehensive when communicating with others. A pioneer in the field of social engineering and a master hacker, Christopher Hadnagy specializes in understanding how malicious attackers exploit principles of human communication to access information and resources through manipulation and deceit. Now, he shows you how to use social engineering as a force for good—to help you regain your confidence and control. Human Hacking provides tools that will help you establish rapport with strangers, use body language and verbal cues to your advantage, steer conversations and influence other’s decisions, and protect yourself from manipulators. Ultimately, you’ll become far more self-aware about how you’re presenting yourself—and able to use it to improve your life. Hadnagy includes lessons and interactive “missions”—exercises spread throughout the book to help you learn the skills, practice them, and master them. With Human Hacking, you’ll soon be winning friends, influencing people, and achieving your goals.
John Steinbeck
★★★☆☆Penguin Books · 2002
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.” They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful. A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.
Michael Bazzell
★★★☆☆CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform · Jan 01, 2013
THIRD EDITION NOW AVAILABLE ON amazon.com/Open-Source-Intelligence-T... Details about this retired (2nd) Second Edition Sheds New Light on Open Source Intelligence Collection and Analysis. Author Michael Bazzell has been well known and respected in government circles for his ability to locate personal information about any target through Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). In this book, he shares his methods in great detail. Each step of his process is explained throughout sixteen chapters of specialized websites, application programming interfaces, and software solutions. Over 200 resources are identified with narrative tutorials and screen captures. This book will serve as a reference guide for anyone that is responsible for the collection of online content. It is written in a hands-on style that encourages the reader to execute the tutorials as they go. The search techniques offered will inspire analysts to "think outside the box" when scouring the internet for personal information. Much of the content of this book has never been discussed in any publication. Always thinking like a hacker, the author has identified new ways to use various technologies for an unintended purpose. This book will improve anyone's online investigative skills. Among other techniques, you will learn how to Twitter GPS & Account Data, Hidden Social Network Content, Cell Phone Owner Information, Hidden Photo GPS & Metadata, Deleted Websites & Posts, Website Owner Information, Alias Social Network Profiles, Additional User Accounts, Sensitive Documents & Photos, Live Streaming Social Content, Videos Uploaded by Location, Newspaper Archives & Scans, Social Content by Location, Text Transcripts of Videos, Historical Satellite Imagery, Duplicate Copies of Photos, Local Personal Radio Frequencies, Compromised Email Information, Wireless Routers by Location, Hidden Mapping Applications, Free Investigative Software, Alternative Search Engines, Stolen Items for Sale, Unlisted Addresses, Unlisted Phone Numbers, Public Government Records, Document Metadata, Voter Registration Records, Facebook Wall Posts, Online Criminal Activity
Christopher Hadnagy
★★★☆☆Wiley · 2011
The first book to reveal and dissect the technical aspect ofmany social engineering maneuvers From elicitation, pretexting, influence and manipulation allaspects of social engineering are picked apart, discussed andexplained by using real world examples, personal experience and thescience behind them to unraveled the mystery in social engineering. Kevin Mitnick--one of the most famous social engineers inthe world--popularized the term "social engineering." He explained that it is much easier to tricksomeone into revealing a password for a system than to exert theeffort of hacking into the system. Mitnick claims that this socialengineering tactic was the single-most effective method in hisarsenal. This indispensable book examines a variety of maneuversthat are aimed at deceiving unsuspecting victims, while it alsoaddresses ways to prevent social engineering threats. Examines social engineering, the science of influencing atarget to perform a desired task or divulge information Arms you with invaluable information about the many methods oftrickery that hackers use in order to gather information with theintent of executing identity theft, fraud, or gaining computersystem access Reveals vital steps for preventing social engineeringthreats Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking does itspart to prepare you against nefarious hackers--now you can doyour part by putting to good use the critical information withinits pages.
John Arquilla
unratedPolity Press · 2021
New technologies are changing how we protect our citizens and wage our wars. Among militaries, everything taken for granted about the ability to maneuver and fight is now undermined by vulnerability to “weapons of mass disruption”: cutting-edge computer worms, viruses, and invasive robot networks. At home, billions of household appliances and other “smart” items that form the Internet of Things risk being taken over, then added to the ranks of massive, malicious “zombie” armies. The age of Bitskrieg is here, bringing vexing threats that range from the business sector to the battlefield. In this new book, world-renowned cybersecurity expert John Arquilla looks unflinchingly at the challenges posed by cyberwarfare – which he argues have been neither met nor mastered. He offers fresh solutions for protecting against enemies that are often anonymous, unpredictable, and capable of projecting force and influence vastly disproportionate to their size, strength, or wealth. The changes called for require radical rethinking of military and security affairs, diplomacy, and even the routines of our daily lives.
Kim Zetter
unratedCrown Publishers · 2014
In January 2010, inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency noticed that centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant in Iran were failing and being replaced at an unprecedented rate. The cause of their failure was a complete mystery. Five months later, a seemingly unrelated event occurred. A computer security firm in Belarus was called in to troubleshoot some computers in Iran that were caught in a reboot loop—crashing and rebooting repeatedly. At first, technicians with the firm believed the malicious code they found on the machines was a simple, routine piece of malware. But as they and other experts around the world investigated, they discovered a virus of unparalleled complexity and mysterious provenance and intent. They had, they soon learned, stumbled upon the world’s first digital weapon. Stuxnet, as it came to be known, was unlike any other virus or worm built before: It was the first attack that reached beyond the computers it targeted to physically destroy the equipment those computers controlled. It was an ingenious attack, jointly engineered by the United States and Israel, that worked exactly as planned, until the rebooting machines gave it all away. And the discovery of Stuxnet was just the beginning: Once the digital weapon was uncovered and deciphered, it provided clues to other tools lurking in the wild. Soon, security experts found and exposed not one but three highly sophisticated digital spy tools that came from the same labs that created Stuxnet. The discoveries gave the world its first look at the scope and sophistication of nation-state surveillance and warfare in the digital age. Kim Zetter, a senior reporter at Wired, has covered hackers and computer security since 1999 and is one of the top journalists in the world on this beat. She was among the first reporters to cover Stuxnet after its discovery and has authored many of the most comprehensive articles about it. In COUNTDOWN TO ZERO DAY: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon, Zetter expands on this work to show how the code was designed and unleashed and how its use opened a Pandora’s Box, ushering in an age of digital warfare in which any country’s infrastructure—power grids, nuclear plants, oil pipelines, dams—is vulnerable to the same kind of attack with potentially devastating results. A sophisticated digital strike on portions of the power grid, for example, could plunge half the U.S. into darkness for weeks or longer, having a domino effect on all other critical infrastructures dependent on electricity.
Kevin D. Mitnick
unratedLittle, Brown and Company · 2017
Kevin Mitnick, the world's most famous hacker, teaches you easy cloaking and counter-measures for citizens and consumers in the age of Big Brother and Big Data. Like it or not, your every move is being watched and analyzed. Consumer's identities are being stolen, and a person's every step is being tracked and stored. What once might have been dismissed as paranoia is now a hard truth, and privacy is a luxury few can afford or understand. In this explosive yet practical book, Kevin Mitnick illustrates what is happening without your knowledge--and he teaches you "the art of invisibility." Mitnick is the world's most famous--and formerly the Most Wanted--computer hacker. He has hacked into some of the country's most powerful and seemingly impenetrable agencies and companies, and at one point he was on a three-year run from the FBI. Now, though, Mitnick is reformed and is widely regarded as the expert on the subject of computer security. He knows exactly how vulnerabilities can be exploited and just what to do to prevent that from happening. In THE ART OF INVISIBILITY Mitnick provides both online and real life tactics and inexpensive methods to protect you and your family, in easy step-by-step instructions. He even talks about more advanced "elite" techniques, which, if used properly, can maximize your privacy. Invisibility isn't just for superheroes--privacy is a power you deserve and need in this modern age.
Qiao Liang
unratedPan American Publishing Company · August 22, 2002
As incredible as it may be to believe, three years before the Sept. 11 bombing of the World Trade Center a Chinese military manual titled Unrestricted Warfare touted such an attack – suggesting it would be difficult for the U.S. military to cope with. Here is an excerpt from Unrestricted "Whether it be the intrusions of hackers, a major explosion at the World Trade Center, or a bombing attack by bin Laden, all of these greatly exceed the frequency bandwidths understood by the American military..." Surprisingly, Osama bin Laden is mentioned frequently in this book. Now NewsMax.com is making the CIA translation of this shocking book available to all Americans. On Sept. 11, 2001, Americans and the world witnessed one of the most horrific acts ever to take place on American soil. Our media and government were quick to declare the acts of that day as simply terrorism by a nationless group known as al-Qaeda. In reading China’s military manual Unrestricted Warfare, you will learn that the events of Sept. 11 were not a random act perpetrated by independent agents. Instead, Chinese military planners believe that terrorism is just one of the many tools at the hands of nations and their terrorist allies to wage total war against the United States. You will be surprised to · The two PLA colonels who authored Unrestricted Warfare have been hailed as heroes in China since Sept. 11 · The Chinese state-run propaganda machine is cashing in on the terror attacks ... producing books, films and video games glorifying the strikes as a humbling blow against an arrogant nation. · Chinese Communist Party officials are saying that President Jiang Zemin has obsessively and gleefully watched and re-watched pictures of the aircraft crashing into the World Trade Center. · The CIA’s own translation agency reported that this book identifies the U.S. as China’s main enemy, and details how a weak nation can destroy America using unorthodox attacks – like the 9-11 attacks. · China is preparing itself and encouraging others to engage the U.S. in total war. The book is chock full of plans and strategies, from using computers, to smuggling illegal immigrants, to manipulating the stock markets, to influencing the U.S. media, to using weapons of mass destruction – all to destroy America. Recent press reports indicate that China has assisted and continues to assist militarily and economically the Taliban and al-Qaeda – even after Sept. 11. The doctrine of total war outlined in Unrestricted Warfare clearly demonstrates that the People’s Republic of China is preparing to confront the United States and our allies by conducting "asymmetrical" or multidimensional attacks on almost every aspect of our social, economic and political life. The media and Congress are keeping a lid on this book because of the implications of U.S.-China economic and trade relations. But now you can bypass them by getting a copy yourself!