Lacking in technical detail - OK for historical information

I read this book quite a while ago. When searching for a new book on viruses to read it came up in the list of search results. Reading all the positive reviews I find it hard to believe we read the same book. Unfortunately I cannot recommend this book for a variety of reasons. Firstly it is now out of date, a lot has changed in the last 5 years. Secondly even when it first come out I found the book quite superficial and lacking in technical detail. Certainly for someone seeking an indepth knowledge of how viruses are designed and can be defended against this book wasn't up to the task. The audience I can see this book as being useful for would be someone who is not a programmer but is looking for a detailed history of the different types of computer viruses. For those looking for discussion and analysis of virus or antivirus source code please look elsewhere !!

I think the reason the author didn't provide much detail was that he didn't want to make his own job producing antivirus software any harder than it already was. Also he wasn't about to give away any trade secrets to his competitors. Perhaps as well he wanted to make the book reasonably accessible to people without a strong programming background.

So for those looking for detailed and current technical information, look elsewhere, for those after a history and taxonomy of computer viruses this book might be adequate.

Other Reviews

• Lacking in technical detail - OK for historical information
• Complicated, Confusing
• Fried Air
• The virus researcher's Bible
• Excellent Source of Information