Foreword xili Boring,boring,boring Isn't this what immediately comes to mind when one sees books on foundational cor ncepts of information security?Monotonous coverage of theory.dry details of history,brief yet inadequate coverage of every topic known to man,even though you know that you'll never be hired by the NSA as a cryptographer.All you really want is a book that makes you fall asleep every 30 minutes instead of every five.It's all the "necessary evil"that must be endured,right?Not this time,my budding security professional. So let's be honest.You actually do have a strong interest in making security a career and not just a hobby.Why else would you have this book in our hand? But like many of you,I didn't know (and some )what wanted to b e when I grew up.So why this book?Wha t's so great about anothe the bahe rom When my son was 4,I took him to the park down the road from our house. There were kids playing baseball,others chasing their friends through the plas- tic and metal jungle,and even a few climbing the fake rock-climbing wall. Then he saw the boys at the skateboard park.He had a board of his o own but r knew some uld do that! of urse,he wa ted to it immedi- ately.As a respon im launch hi self the top of a 6-fo oot ramp only to end up unconscious waitin to be run ove r by the nex prepubescent wannabe Tony Hawk.But what I could do is require him to show me that he could do something basic like stand on the board and ride it all the way down the driveway at home.As a reward,he could go to the skate park Once there,he didn't feel quite as comfortable as when on the driveway,so he rode down the ramp while sitting.Eventually,he dictated his own path;he set his own goals;he ontrolled the time it took to get where he wanted to be. His path was different fro never went to the park many of少ers at the park野，But imaginef out if he ony sawa b ng t ed an home runs?What if he didn't even get to see the skate park,much less the kids airing the gap?Knowing what is possible can drastically change one's des- tiny.And so it is with a profession in security. Simply wanting a career in information security is not specific enough to con- vey all the possible job descriptions in an industry that now touches every other.What Dr.Andress has do in addition to giving solid foundat is make e you neurons spark.It's th spark e“int ded°co sequence eof giving career advice.How does he do this?Instea of ju st stic ing to the tried and true classroom tactics of presenting the information and requiring rote memorization,he cleverly intermixes hacking,forensics,and xiii Foreword Boring, boring, boring. Isn’t this what immediately comes to mind when one sees books on foundational concepts of information security? Monotonous coverage of theory, dry details of history, brief yet inadequate coverage of every topic known to man, even though you know that you’ll never be hired by the NSA as a cryptographer. All you really want is a book that makes you fall asleep every 30minutes instead of every five. It’s all the “necessary evil” that must be endured, right? Not this time, my budding security professional. So let’s be honest. You actually do have a strong interest in making security a career and not just a hobby. Why else would you have this book in your hand? But like many of you, I didn’t know (and sometimes still wonder to this day) what I wanted to be when I grew up. So why this book? What’s so great about another extensive volume on information security? How does it help me not only to learn the basics but also to push my career aspirations in the right direction? When my son was 4, I took him to the park down the road from our house. There were kids playing baseball, others chasing their friends through the plas￾tic and metal jungle, and even a few climbing the fake rock-climbing wall. Then he saw the boys at the skateboard park. He had a board of his own but never knew someone could do that! Of course, he wanted to try it immedi￾ately. As a responsible Dad, I couldn’t let him launch himself off the top of a 6-foot ramp only to end up unconscious waiting to be run over by the next prepubescent wannabe Tony Hawk. But what I could do is require him to show me that he could do something basic like stand on the board and ride it all the way down the driveway at home. As a reward, he could go to the skate park. Once there, he didn’t feel quite as comfortable as when on the driveway, so he rode down the ramp while sitting. Eventually, he dictated his own path; he set his own goals; he controlled the time it took to get where he wanted to be. His path was different from many others at the park that day. But imagine if we never went to the park. How about if he only saw a baseball being tossed and no home runs? What if he didn’t even get to see the skate park, much less the kids airing the gap? Knowing what is possible can drastically change one’s des￾tiny. And so it is with a profession in security. Simply wanting a career in information security is not specific enough to con￾vey all the possible job descriptions in an industry that now touches every other. What Dr. Andress has done, in addition to giving a solid foundation, is make your neurons spark. It’s those sparks that have the “intended” con￾sequence of giving career advice. How does he do this? Instead of just stick￾ing to the tried and true classroom tactics of presenting the information and requiring rote memorization, he cleverly intermixes hacking, forensics, and