Author Michal Zalewski has long been known and respected in the hacking and security communities for his intelligence, curiosity and creativity, and this book is truly unlike anything else out there. In Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect Attacks, Zalewski shares his expertise and experience to explain how computers and networks work, how information is processed and delivered, and what security threats lurk in the shadows. No humdrum technical white paper or how-to manual for protecting one's network, this book is a fascinating narrative that explores a variety of unique, uncommon and often quite elegant security challenges that defy classification and eschew the traditional attacker-victim model.

Michal Zalewski is a security researcher who has worked on topics ranging from hardware and OS design principles to networking. He has published research on many security topics and has worked for the past eight years in the InfoSec field for a number of reputable companies, including two major telecommunications firms. His website is available here.