4 Best Network Analysis Books – 2018 Update

Nowhere is the term hacker more misconstrued than in the network security field. This is understandable because the very same tools that network security professionals use to probe the robustness of their own networks also can be used to launch attacks on any machine on the Internet.

Security has always been a big concern with network. Even today, with wireless a mature technology is a challenging job. One of the biggest threats to a computer network is a rogue system pretending to be a trusted host. Once someone has successfully impersonated another host, he can do a number of nefarious things. For example, he can intercept and log traffic destined for the real host, or lie in wait for clients to connect and begin sending the rogue host confidential information.

1) Nmap Network Scanning by Gordon Fyodor Lyon, Jan 2009

Amazon Buy Link – https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979958717?tag=secbks-20

Paperback Price – $37.73 USD

Nmap Network Scanning is the official guide to the Nmap Security Scanner, a free and open source utility used by millions of people for network discovery, administration, and security auditing. From explaining port scanning basics for novices to detailing low-level packet crafting methods used by advanced hackers, this book by Nmap’s original author suits all levels of security and networking professionals.

Important Topics include –

Subverting firewalls and intrusion detection systems,
Optimizing Nmap performance, and
Automating common networking tasks with the Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE).

Visit http://nmap.org/book for more information and sample chapters.

2) Practical Packet Analysis by Chris Sanders, 3rd Edition

Direct Buy Link – https://www.nostarch.com/packetanalysis3

Amazon Buy Link – https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Packet-Analysis-Wireshark-Real-World/dp/1593278020/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489008028&sr=8-1

Printed Book Price with E-Book – $33.96 USD to $49.95 USD

If you really want to learn packet analysis, then this book i.e. Practical Packet Analysis is one of the best book ever written by Chris Sanders. He covered almost every aspect of Wireshark which is a packet sniffing tool from basics to advance.

There are around 13 chapters in this 3rd edition, where as in 2nd edition, there was only 11 chapters which was released in the year 2011. He also covered the all aspects of protocol IPV6 and SMTP w.r.t to packet analysis.

Practical Packet Analysis will show you how to:

Monitor your network in real time and tap live network communications
Build customized capture and display filters
Use packet analysis to troubleshoot and resolve common network problems, like loss of connectivity, DNS issues, and slow speeds
Explore modern exploits and malware at the packet level
Extract files sent across a network from packet captures
Graph traffic patterns to visualize the data flowing across your network
Use advanced Wireshark features to understand confusing captures
Build statistics and reports to help you better explain technical network information to non-techies

3) Wireshark Network Analysis by by Laura Chappell & Gerald Combs, Second Edition.

Amazon Buy Link – https://www.amazon.com/Wireshark-Network-Analysis-Second-Certified/dp/1893939944

Price – $99.95 USD Only

As we all knows Wireshark is the one of the most popular network analyzer and packet sniffing tool with over 50k downloads per month. This book i.e. Wireshark Network Analysis will covers all tips and tricks related to wireshark, packet capturing, troubleshooting and their security.

This book is also the Official Study Guide for the Wireshark Certified Network Analyst program. This Second Edition includes an introduction to IPv6, ICMPv6 and DHCPv6 analysis, updated Wireshark functionality and new trace files.

Visit wiresharkbook.com for book supplements, index, table of contents and more and this edition is also available in Kindle Format.

4) Network Forensics: Tracking Hackers through Cyberspace by Sherri Davidoff & Jonathan Ham, 2012

Amazon Buy Link – https://www.amazon.com/Network-Forensics-Tracking-Hackers-Cyberspace/dp/0132564718

Price – $55.77 USD Only

This is a must-have work for anybody in information security, digital forensics, or involved with incident handling. As we move away from traditional disk-based analysis into the interconnectivity of the cloud, author Sherri and Jonathan have created a framework and roadmap that will act as a seminal work in this developing field.

You can even buy the kindle edition of this book in just $6.84 USD.

Sherri Davidoff who is the first author of this book is a founder of LMG Security, an information security consulting and research firm.

This book is a fascinating account of how to investigate and debug networking mysteries. It is written in an excellent manner and has lucid explanations throughout. It has very good annotations including footnotes with links. Best way to learn a system/protocol/network is to reverse engineer and study its inner design.

This book can be used by a wide variety of professionals – Students will benefit immensely to understand/debug systems. IT staff/security professionals will get benefit how to investigate attacks into systems and thereby how to prevent them.

You may also like:

1) Nmap Network Scanning by Gordon Fyodor Lyon, Jan 2009

2) Practical Packet Analysis by Chris Sanders, 3rd Edition

3) Wireshark Network Analysis by by Laura Chappell & Gerald Combs, Second Edition.

4) Network Forensics: Tracking Hackers through Cyberspace by Sherri Davidoff & Jonathan Ham, 2012

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