Cyber Security is the field full of discoveries that requires constant knowledge update. However, it also becomes difficult to understand how to get a breakthrough in this field. In this article, we have got the list of important books to read while pursuing cyber security for all the geeks who like reading over lectures. You can find the best books that comprehensively discuss popular cyber security fields and brief you about them. Read on to know more.
Disclaimer: Some of the books mentioned below may include some offensive methods of hacking. However, the readers are advised to use it while being on the ethical side. We request you not to try these methods on any digital asset without the owners’ prior permission.
To practice the same, there are various platforms, bug bounties, and CTF events. Do show your skills there! The reader is advised to use their knowledge and skills wisely towards the right side of cyberspace.
Important Books to Read While Pursuing Cyber Security
We hope this set of books act as a guide for your journey into venturing into cybersecurity. This path is full of interesting case studies, technologies, and unbelievable incidents. Don’t forget to check out our additional recommendations ahead.
Practical Malware Analysis by Andrew Honig and Michael Sikorski
This book is, as I want to describe, a goldmine for those pursuing malware analysis. You get short crash courses to exercise for the upcoming topics, and thus, the book elevates your level with every chapter. Starting from the basics and transforming the same basics to advanced concepts are some extremes in this book. Lastly there are tools, labs, and special takeaway sections.
Black Hat Python by Justin Seitz
This book is a great walkthrough to consider for everyone who is confused about how to link python with hacking the systems. It starts right from why the python programming language is important, setting up the environment for the same, and then through various subtopics, it ends with automating mundane tasks of penetration testing with python. As the book concludes, you’ll realize what it takes to be a strong hacker and stand out from the crowd.
The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook by Marcus Pinto
Every person venturing in cybersecurity might have heard about this book at least once! The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook is just something like a treasure to web app pentesters. It talks about methodologies to exploit sessions, client-side, back-end servers, logic, applications, and source code. The proper structuring of the book is sure to keep the reader intrigued and curious till the last page!
The Hacker Playbook Series
Now you, the reader, must be thinking why there’s another book on hacking if we already know the above one. So here’s why- this book doesn’t just restrict you to web applications, but it’s much more beyond it. It’s about the tools, the website, the lateral movement within the network, evading detections, social engineering, and so much more to add! One short wise advice, close your eyes and trust in this book. It’s sure to take your skills to another heightened level of mastery. This book is not to be missed while pursuing cyber security.
Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick and William L. Simon
Known as the world’s best hacker, Kevin Mitnick and Willian L Simon bring you their best through Ghost in the Wires. This book is a journey and told much like a story to develop an interest in cybersecurity. The reader benefits from understanding the concept of security and hacking like a tale and keeps jonesing for it. A prescribed warning for the professionals on how sudden anomalies indicate the ‘ghosts’ lurking in your wires.
The Art of Memory Forensics by Michael Hale Ligh, Andrew Case, Jamie Levy and Aaron Walters
This book is made for those professionals having an interest in forensics associated with different operating systems. The book explores various aspects of forensics-related to Linux, Windows, and Mac. For those seeking forensics expertise to acquire memory-based evidence such as encryptions, injections, malware, rootkits, and non-cached data, can pursue it. Ensure a comprehensive journey through these operating systems to unpuzzle various knowledgeable resources just like a painter paints his art.
Security Engineering by Ross Anderson
One of the most important books while pursuing cyber security. This book is all about building dependable distributed systems and is the most widely sought book for security engineering. The one that starts with fundamental concepts such as defining protocols to different levels of implementation is something worth reading. Security Engineering compels you to think differently by providing end-to-end coverage of other elements woven intelligently.
Cryptography Engineering by Niels Ferguson
This book talks about the designs, principles, and practical applications of cryptography. Thus, it’s suited for the best in-depth knowledge about the subject. This book is a deep dive to acquire the thinking ability of a cryptographer. Therefore, this can enable you to make intelligent use of the concepts and analyze their core functionalities to implement digital security correctly. With the enhanced comprehensiveness, you might as well take an interest in other cryptography books to chase expertise in it.
Tribe of Hackers Series
It is very rightly said that you need one piece of right advice to make a difference. Every question asked in this book is here to impact the reader, no matter how ridiculous or hilarious they sound. So as we said, this book contains questions and answers to those questions. To add a cherry on the top, you can have some contact information of the advisors who are a part of this book. This book has multiple series to it, thus a rich treat for beginners in cybersecurity.
Reverse Engineering for Beginners by Dennis Yurichev
Reverse Engineering for Beginners is something one should not miss at all! I tag it as one of the most straightforward books with simple examples to start with. Dennis, in his book, has effortlessly tried to put forward the concepts and, most importantly, in a mind-capturing way to not make the reversing jargon stressful. With the difficulty level increasing gradually, this book is a smooth journey towards a career in reverse engineering.
Additional books to pursue in future
Now, if you are done with these book recommendations above, come back to this article to read another set of good books mentioned below. For fun, interest, curiosity, or simply knowledge, these are going to keep you amazed and full of surprise elements to learn.
- Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering by Eldad Eilam
- Social Engineering, The Science of Human Hacking by Christopher Hadnagy
- Investigating Cryptocurrencies by Nick Furneaux
- Gray Hat Python by Justin Seitz
- Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide by David Kennedy, Jim O’Gorman, Devon Kearns and Mati Aharoni
- Serious Cryptography by Jean-Philippe Aumasson
- Foundation of Information Security by Jason Andress
- Black Hat Go: Go Programming For Hackers And Pentesters by Tom Steele, Chris Patten and Dan Kottmann
- Advanced Penetration Testing for Highly Secured Environments by Lee Allen
Towards the conclusion
As we conclude on the topic of important books to read while pursuing cyber security, I’ve tried to emphasize why you should read these books. A small summary is available nearly everywhere, but what makes these books special to be on the list here was the motive behind this article. I hope you liked this article, and feel free to comment down your recommendations, if any! Also, you can classify these books based on your preferred domains and expertise and pursue more books in the future related to them.
Author Bio: This article has been written by Rishika Desai, B.Tech Computer Engineering graduate with 9.57 CGPA from Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology (VIIT), Pune. Currently works as Threat Intelligence Researcher in CloudSEK. She is a good dancer, poet and a writer. Animal love engulfs her heart and content writing comprises her present. You can follow Rishika on Twitter at @ich_rish99.