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Pete Finnigan's Oracle Security Weblog

This is the weblog for Pete Finnigan. Pete works in the area of Oracle security and he specialises in auditing Oracle databases for security issues. This weblog is aimed squarely at those interested in the security of their Oracle databases.

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A Cuckoo's egg



I have been reading Kevin Mitnik and William Simons new book "Art of Intrusion: True Stories of Corporate Break-Ins Straight from the Criminals" since I bought it a few days ago and have managed to progress to chapter 4 when I have had chance to read it. In Chapter 3 they talk about Matt and Costa's exploits in breaking into Boeing and other sites. The interesting thing for me was the discussion of how Don tracked the hacker’s movements. This reminded me immediately about the book "A cuckoo's egg" by Clifford Stoll. I read this book a few years ago and was impressed by it. It describes a real investigation by Cliff Stoll into hackers breaking into systems here there and everywhere back in the late 80's before the current Internet era. The methods used by Cliff and the descriptions of the detail, the commitment and the people involved are worth reading for anyone interested in computer security. This book despite its age is still fresh and current for the lessons it teaches. Take a look if you have a chance and want a good read.