Computer Network Security and Cyber Ethics (2nd ed.)

Citation

Fourie, I. (2007), "Computer Network Security and Cyber Ethics (2nd ed.)", Online Information Review, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 538-539. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710780485

It is increasingly important for the general public to be aware of computer security issues, including the magnitude of cyber vandalism, the weaknesses of loopholes in cyber infrastructures, and the various ways in which we may protect ourselves and our society. In Computer Network Security and Cyber Ethics Joseph Kizza clearly indicates the rise in the number of cyber crimes since the 1980s, as well as the amazingly wide variety of attacks and invasions that occur. This is evident from accompanying terminology such as: IP‐spoofing, SYN flooding, sequence numbers attack, scanning and probing attack, low bandwidth attack, session attack, distributed denial of service attack, ping of death, smurfing, teardrop attack and land.c attack – to name but a few.

As Kizza explains, individual cognisance of the problem and commitment to address it is extremely important:

The military and indeed the government cannot do it alone. It must be a joint effort of all of us.

Such an effort requires an understanding of the scope of the problem, the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of computer network infrastructures, possibilities for protection, the cyber crime landscape, issues of morality and ethics, the cyberspace infrastructure, the problems experienced with regard to cyber crime, the problems experienced by enterprise networks, and the protection of enterprise networks. A special concern is the poor reporting of cyber crime. Kizza deals with issues concerning enterprise networks in a fair amount of detail, while morality and ethical issues are only touched on. In the concluding chapter intellectual property rights in cyberspace, the issue of personal identity, and increased technical and non‐technical demands are also mentioned.

These topics are covered in nine chapters. The book concludes with an appendix containing basic exercise questions, notes, a bibliography and an index. Although a reasonable bibliography, I would hope to see a wider selection of sources and especially more current sources – for a potential textbook it is especially important to stimulate the interested reader by reference to appropriate texts.

Computer Network Security and Cyber Ethics is aimed at students in computer science, information science, technology studies, library science and engineering, as well as professionals in relevant areas. Although it is written in a clear and easy‐to‐understand style reflecting the author's expertise, I personally would hope for something a bit more substantial in terms of case studies, questions, scenarios, etc. Although this might increase the value of the work as a textbook, it might also mean a considerable increase on the price, which at its current US$35 makes it a very affordable textbook for undergraduate studies. As an introductory text I can recommend Computer Network Security and Cyber Ethics as good value for money. For more advance levels of study, and for full studies of computer/information ethics it might be worthwhile to search for supplementary texts.