Deb Shinder Has New Book Coming Out:
 Scene of the Cybercrime

Debra Littlejohn Shinder has a new book about to be released at the end of July, titled Scene of the Cybercrime: Computer Forensics Handbook. While her previous books were written for a highly technical audience, this book targets network professionals, law enforcement personnel, and even the general public.

"Cybercrime" is a catch-all term used to describe criminal activity committed in the virtual world of "cyberspace" – that is, the use of Internet to commit a criminal offense. While hackers, crackers and network attackers are the most obvious example, not all crimes of this type require a high level of technical expertise, and many are just the "same old stuff" (fraud/con games, theft, illegal gambling, child pornography, etc.) done in a new-fangled way, using computer technology.

However, cybercrime presents new challenges to law enforcement officers – as well as network administrators and other cybercrime victims – due to the intangible nature of the evidence and the jurisdictional nightmare that often arises in attempting to prosecute cybercriminals. It’s a problem, and it’s one that’s growing by leaps and bounds. According to Meridien Research, the cost of Internet fraud alone is expected to reach a total of 5 to 15 billion dollars by 2005.

Economic threat is only part of the picture. Just last month, the Washington Post reported that authorities are investigating suspicions that the computer networks of public utility companies and government facilities are under surveillance from sources originating in the Middle East and South Asia. There is growing fear that Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations may be planning to attempt takeovers of critical infrastructure components through the computers that run them. Cyberterrorism has the potential to be as devastating as traditional terrorism – and more difficult to detect and stop.

This book addresses the legal, technical and even the psychological aspects of cybercrime. It starts with an overview of what cybercrime is and the history of online lawbreaking, explores the issues of profiling the cybercriminal and understanding other people on the scene of the cybercrime, moves into the technology behind the cybercrime phenomenon, examines cybercrime prevention and detection techniques and delves into computer forensics and legal ramifications of prosecuting the cybercriminal. An appendix looks at cybercrime from a global perspective and discusses how computer crimes laws differ in nations across the world.

The information in this book is vital for the network security specialist or criminal investigator specializing in Internet-related crime, but it will also interest anyone who ever ventures into the online world, or knows someone who does. Increasingly, that means all of us.

For more information about the book, see http://www.sceneofthecybercrime.com or e-mail Deb at deb@shinder.net.