Principles of Information Security, 5th Edition

Book Preface

As global networks expand the interconnection of the world’s information systems, the smooth operation of communication and computing solutions becomes vital. However, recurring events such as malware and phishing attacks and the success of criminal attackers illustrate the weaknesses in current information technologies and the need to provide heightened security for these systems.

When attempting to secure their existing systems and networks, organizations must draw on the current pool of information security practitioners. But, to develop more secure computing environments in the future, these same organizations are counting on the next generation of professionals to have the correct mix of skills and experience to anticipate and manage the complex information security issues that are sure to arise. Thus, improved texts with supporting materials, along with the efforts of college and university faculty, are needed to prepare students of technology to recognize the threats and vulnerabilities in existing systems and to learn to design and develop the secure systems needed in the near future.

The purpose of Principles of Information Security, Fifth Edition, is to continue to meet the need for a current, high-quality academic textbook that surveys the discipline of information security. While dozens of good publications on information security are oriented to the practitioner, there remains a severe lack of textbooks that provide students with a balanced introduction to both security management and the technical components of information security. By creating a book specifically from the perspective of information security, we hope to close this gap. Further, there is a clear need to include principles from criminal justice, political science, computer science, information systems, and other related disciplines to gain a clear understanding of information security principles and formulate interdisciplinary solutions for systems vulnerabilities. The essential tenet of this textbook is that information security in the modern organization is a problem for management to solve, and not one that technology alone can address. In other words, an organization’s information security has important economic consequences for which management will be held accountable.