The Code of Honor - by Paul J Maurer & Ed Skoudis (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A comprehensive and practical framework for ethical practices in contemporary cybersecurity

While some professions - including medicine, law, and engineering - have wholeheartedly embraced wide-ranging codes of ethics and conduct, the field of cybersecurity continues to lack an overarching ethical standard. This vacuum constitutes a significant threat to the safety of consumers and businesses around the world, slows commerce, and delays innovation.

The Code of Honor: Embracing Ethics in Cybersecurity delivers a first of its kind comprehensive discussion of the ethical challenges that face contemporary information security workers, managers, and executives. Authors Ed Skoudis, President of the SANS Technology Institute College and founder of the Counter Hack team, and Dr. Paul Maurer, President of Montreat College, explain how timeless ethical wisdom gives birth to the Cybersecurity Code which is currently being adopted by security practitioners and leaders around the world.

This practical book tells numerous engaging stories that highlight ethically complex situations many cybersecurity and tech professionals commonly encounter. It also contains compelling real-world case studies - called Critical Applications - at the end of each chapter that help the reader determine how to apply the hands-on skills described in the book.

You'll also find:

• A complete system of cybersecurity ethics relevant to C-suite leaders and executives, front-line cybersecurity practitioners, and students preparing for careers in cybersecurity.
• Carefully crafted frameworks for ethical decision-making in cybersecurity.
• Timeless principles based on those adopted in countless professions, creeds, and civilizations.

Perfect for security leaders, operations center analysts, incident responders, threat hunters, forensics personnel, and penetration testers, The Code of Honor is an up-to-date and engaging read about the ethically challenging world of modern cybersecurity that will earn a place in the libraries of aspiring and practicing professionals and leaders who deal with tech every day.

From the Back Cover

A blueprint for a comprehensive system of cybersecurity ethics

The Code of Honor: Embracing Ethics in Cybersecurity tackles the pressing need for an ethical framework in the rapidly evolving field of cybersecurity. As authors Ed Skoudis, a renowned cybersecurity instructor for SANS, and Dr. Paul Maurer, president of Montreat College, point out, cybersecurity has long been a domain without a unified code of conduct. This absence poses significant risks to both consumers and businesses worldwide.

This book is an absolute "must-have" for cybersecurity workers, managers, and executives who are in the tech world, but also for all those who work and run companies who serve the public, especially those kinds of essential services that we all engage in like healthcare, government, and commerce (including banks, airlines, grocery stores, etc.). An inescapable web of digital connections undergirds our lives. This creates enormous vulnerabilities and opportunities for corruption, which only highlights the need for a moral compass, a code of honor. Ethics is not something you just wake up one day and do, but rather it is a way of thinking that must be taught, practiced, and understood over time so that it can be fully developed within an individual, a team, and a company. This book provides a way forward through engaging discussions, best practice guidelines, and real-world case studies.

Rapid advancement and evolution in the cyber world have caused it to lag behind in the creation of an overarching ethical standard for the people who secure the underlying technologies. Without this, ultimately cyber cannot be trusted, chaos will be the norm, and the maturing of an industry will be stymied not to mention the loss of benefits that naturally grow out of a thriving field that is grounded in integrity.

Perfect for managers and executives who seek to sharpen knowledge of cyber ethics and security, The Code of Honor is also an indispensable guide for security analysts, incident responders, threat hunters, forensic experts, and penetration testers. It offers a sophisticated and hands-on framework for the integration of ethical standards from across the cyber world that takes into account the unique characteristics of this complex industry. This is a call to action for everyone in cyber to adopt a new code of honor to safeguard the digital world.

About the Author

PAUL J. MAURER, PhD, is the president of Montreat College, a national leader in cybersecurity education and workforce development. After being approached by the NSA to create a curriculum on cybersecurity ethics for our nation's students preparing for cybersecurity careers, Paul was convinced this book needed to be written. He speaks and writes frequently on a wide range of topics, but regularly does so on cybersecurity across the country.

ED SKOUDIS serves as president of the SANS Technology Institute College, the country's leading provider of cybersecurity professional development. Ed began teaching at the SANS Institute in 1999 and has trained over 30,000 cybersecurity professionals in incident response and ethical hacking, codifying many of the practices used throughout the industry today. He is the recipient of the Order of Thor medal from the Military Cyber Professionals Association and is the author of Counter Hack Reloaded: A Step-by-Step Guide to Computer Attacks and Effective Defenses.