Computer System and Network Security

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity becomes more important every year, as we rely more and more on the world-wide Internet in government, business, and our private lives.

Everyone needs to know how to be safe enough in their personal email and web browsing. Start with my introductory page if you're new to cybersecurity.

Certifications are the coin of the realm nowadays, and they're the main reason many people come to this page. And so, here's my guidance on preparing and passing the exams:

The rest of these pages provide background for the courses I write and teach. They list the references and URLs for various tools, studies, news reports, and other things that come up in courses. I use these pages myself, so I don't have to try to memorize URLs and other reference details!

Here's that starting point:

Cybersecurity Basics
How to stay safe online

Few persons can be made to believe that it is not quite an easy thing to invent a method of secret writing which shall baffle investigation. Yet it may be roundly asserted that human ingenuity cannot concoct a cipher which human ingenuity cannot resolve.
— Edgar Allan Poe, in "A Few Words On Secret Writing", Graham's Magazine, July 1841

Internet threat warnings

I find these to be helpful sources of information on current events and trends:

Krebs On Security SecureList US-CERT Current Activity Flashpoint Intelligence Corner

Internet security "global dashboards"

Some of these are useful, some have a relatively high level of hype, but you might find some of these useful:

Oracle Internet Intelligence Kaspersky DShield Internet Traffic Report SANS Internet Storm Center Live Digital Attack Map Security Wizardry Computer Network
Defence Situational Awareness

Where to go from here

Make sure you understand your systems well, and set them up properly! As Hippocrates said, "Primum non nocere", or "First, do no harm."

Be aware that your browser always gives away some information about you, unless you are using Tor and using it very carefully. Your browser just provided this information: