Top 10 Must-Read Cyber Security Books

“My Message for Companies that think they haven’t been Attacked is: You are not looking Hard Enough” - James Snook

Imagine being an audience to a nail-biting, teeth-clenching thriller wherein a hacker solves an extraordinarily difficult encryption key. I bet the thought of it would seem to be pretty exciting to all. Stories built around money, mystery, cyber crime, sextortion and so on; not only help in pushing the drama quotient of stories, but at times truly reflect the real dangers associated with the world of cyber crime. Some of the best Cyber Security Books include these real world cases of criminal stories. Thus, these books on Cyber Security are at the same time a source of entertainment as well as profound knowledge. By way of offering real-world examples as well as suggestions on possible precautionary measures, some of these Cyber Security Books can be your constant guide on how to save yourself in the face of regular spurt in cases of cyber attacks and crimes.

In this blog, we shall look at 10 Best Books on Cyber Security. There is no dearth of Cyber Security Books available in the market. However, the given list of top Cyber Security Books has been carefully prepared on the basis of extensive research and includes only the best books to learn Cyber Security from.

Top 10 Cyber Security Books

The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data

Author: Kevin Mitnick
This is one of the best Cyber Security Books which was penned down by the famous hacker, Kevin Mitnick, himself.
As one of the classic books on Cyber Security, the author does an excellent job in informing its readers on ways to protect themselves in the given digital age, marked by the “Big Data” and “Big Brother”.
The book is an exposition into the notorious ways in which companies whip up profit by spying on the moves of common individuals.
As the name of the text suggests, the book teaches you the ‘art of invisibility’. This implies that readers can learn about easy cloaking measures which could help one to maintain an anonymous identity for protecting their sensitive information.
The text emphasizes on some of the easy techniques that one can employ to maximise privacy.

Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World

Author: Joseph Menn
This is considered to be one of the best Cyber Security books for beginners.
The text is a reference to one of the oldest, well-known and respected hacking groups in the U.S. The hacking group, “The Cult of the Dead Cow” did once again came in the limelight when Beto O’ Rourke (former candidate for Democratic Presidential Nominee) announced being a part of the group as a teenager.
The book highlights the exploits of this group who is credited with inventing hacktivism and consequently influenced IT departments of most of the large companies in the U.S.
The author elaborates on how the group was crucial in the development of TOR and in fact pushed many of the U.S. corporations towards buttressing their security protocols.

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Author: Simon Singh
This is one of those books about Cyber Security which emphasizes upon the antiquity of the field. It is an interesting read as it traces the history of encryption right to the time of ancient Egypt.
The author adopts a ‘looking-back’ approach as he tells his readers the way in which many of the existing security protocols can be traced back to the espionage tactics and scriptures found in the Egyptian culture.
The book scans the history of encryption as it depicts the way in which it played a pivotal role in shaping the course of world events, right from influencing the defeat of Hitler as well as by rendering ecommerce possible.
Unlike most of the conventional Cyber Security Books which solely focus on the technical aspects of the field; this book is unique in the sense that it provides just the right mixture of real world examples (Navajo Code Talkers, Queen of Scots), historical context as well as technical explanations.

Practical Malware Analysis: The Hands-On Guide to Dissecting Malicious Software

Author: Michael Sikorski and Andrew Honig
Cyber attacks involving viruses and other forms of malware is constantly on an upsurge. To the extent that this book can be seen as a preparatory blueprint which teaches you defensive strategies against malware attacks; it is definitely one of the best books on Cyber Security.
It is an extremely realistic and practical text which provides the readers with comprehensive understanding of how professionals handle malware threats. This mitigation plan covers establishment of safe virtual environments, study of specific cases of malware as well as development of strategies for unpacking malware.
The book can be regarded as a useful guide which teaches you the art of analyzing, debugging and disassembling malicious software. Thus, as one of the best books to learn Cyber Security from, it provides lessons on ways to crack open malware, ascertain its impact, conduct network cleaning as well as block its path for possible re-entry in the future.
Readers are able to acquire knowledge on the execution of primary analysis like WinDbg, IDA Pro and OllyDbg.

Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets and Solutions

Authors: Stuart McClure, George Kurtz & Joel Scambray
Written by seasoned experts from the field of hacking, this book can be regarded as one of the best books to learn Cyber Security in terms of developing in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals of hacking.
The text adopts a scholarly as well as an academic lens in looking at the field of hacking. It encompasses everything, right from footprinting to investigating the countermeasures manual.
The field of hacking is one of those highly dynamic components of the overarching domain of Cyber Security. Hacking Exposed 7, as one of those Best Cyber Security Books, makes sure that the readers remain updated on all the latest developments in the field. In fact, it has been acknowledged as an international best-selling series.
The book is an engaging read as it pushes the readers to think like hackers in anticipating possible cyber attacks as well as in coming up with strategies for combating security breaches.

The CERT Guide to Insider Threat

Authors: Dawn M. Cappelli, Andrew P. Moore, Randall F. Trzeciak
This is another of those classic Cyber Security Books which tries to unravel the mystery of an otherwise overlooked aspect of Cyber Security and that being of ‘Insider Threats’.
Security issues are often held to be synonymous with external threats. However, a robust Cyber Security mechanism entails the incorporation of safeguards against external as well as internal (vulnerabilities emanating from within the system) threats.
This book is an eye-opener in the sense that it not only elaborates on a large variety of insider threats; but also provides guidance to managers and other employees within an organization for combating such threats as well as on ways of discovering potential ones.
This is one of the best books on Cyber Security at an advanced level and is especially curated for experts and professionals in the field.

The Cyber Effect

Author: Mary Aiken
This is one of the best Cyber Security Books which goes beyond the technical boundaries of the field of Cyber Security. It explores the non-technical aspect in terms of the way in which the technology of the cyberspace has had a profound impact on the lives of men.
Mary Aiken had worked as a forensic cyber-psychologist which helped her utilize her experience in producing this groundbreaking piece of research.
Technology permeates every aspect of human lives. In this respect, the author tries to answer certain significant questions on the impact of technology on our lives as well as on the lives of our children; the invasion of technology on our personal spaces as well as the way in which technology has blurred the line between the public and the private.
Having worked as a psychologist, the author is able to evaluate human online behavior from a scientific standpoint.

Threat Modeling: Designing for Security

Author: Adam Shostack
This is one of those books about Cyber Security which is essentially targeted towards Cyber Security professionals, managers and developers.
The author as a seasoned expert in Microsoft Security Development, has played a crucial role in shedding light on the topic of building security.
As the name of the text suggests, the book delves into outlining the different threat modeling approaches and strategies for combating threats which have been tried and tested by Microsoft and other renowned organizations.
The book would definitely count among the useful Cyber Security Books as the recommendations offered therein are wholly practical and executable. The author is of the opinion that it is only wise to infuse security measures into systems, right at the design stage; rather than facing negative consequences at a later phase.

Cyber Wars: Hacks that Shocked the Business World

Author: Arthur Charles
This is yet another premium Cyber Security books for beginners which takes the non-technical route in highlighting some of the worst Cyber attacks in the recent years.
The book as one of the basic texts on Cyber Security acquaints the readers with the various concepts of Information Security.
With the help of easy examples, the book helps its readers in developing a fair understanding of the appropriate means of communicating security issues to end users and non-technical management.
The book is an excellent read on some of the most frightening and biggest tales of cyber crime which have taken place. What makes it a useful text is that the book does not simply elaborate on the incidents, but it provides a detailed account of the techniques used, the repercussions as well as the preventive measures.

Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide

Author: Jim O’ Gorman
This is one of the best Cyber Security books for beginners who happen to be looking for learning Penetration Testing.
The book elaborates on the history of Metasploit as well as serves as a guide on how to install it as a tool.
What makes the text count as one of the best Cyber Security books is the smooth transition which it embodies in moving from a fundamental understanding of Penetration Testing to emphasizing upon some of the advanced concepts like wireless attacks, network reconnaissance, social engineering attacks, client-side attacks and so on.

Apart from these reputed and renowned Cyber Security Books; honorary mention should be made of three more books which also make it to be among the best Cyber Security Books. These are:

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation (by Jon Erickson)
Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker (by Kevin Mitnick)
Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking (by Christopher Hadnagy)

These books have been discussed under the topic on Ethical Hacking Books and you can read about them in our blog on “10 Best Ethical Hacking Books”

Conclusion

The field of Cyber Security is a huge one. There are a whole lot of associated fields which are related to the domain. This implies that there is no dearth of Cyber Security Books available in the market. There are books about Cyber Security, on each and every specific topic within the field. In this blog, we have focussed on some of the classic and best Cyber Security books which deal with the field of Cyber Security in general.

If you can rely on the best books to learn Cyber Security from; enrolment in a well-structured Cyber Security course can only be an added advantage for you. We, at Syntax Technologies, provide you with the excellent opportunity to develop expertise as a Cyber Security expert through our top-notched Cyber Security course as well as receive end-to-end assistance on all kinds of professional requirements.