Meant to inspire security and technology pros alike to wonder and muse on the what ifs of security vulnerabilities, Stealing the Network exercises the imagination in hopes of sparking real life solutions. With contributions from security consultants, technical directors, security engineers and specialists with impressive lists of accomplishments, Stealing the Network is a truly creative bunch of “stories that are fictional, with technology that is real.”

Whether you’re into ethical hacking or IT security, you’ll find the stories not only entertaining and thought-provoking, but also valuable in their recommendations and specificity regarding what programs and systems the fictional hackers are using. Though the stories are fictional, they are set in the real world and are described with great accuracy. Screenshots, graphs and titled sections make for easy reading and navigation. The authors of these ten stories come from the IT security world, and thus their characters and scenarios are familiar and relatable, like the narrator from Ryan Russell and Timothy Mullen’s “The Worm Turns”:

Rarely do people like me want to chitchat about what we do in general terms. We live in a world of minute detail, machine-language code, operating system calls, and compiler quirks. Most of the time, we would rather keep to ourselves and do independent study, unless we’re having trouble with something specific or want someone to double-check our work.

In his foreword to the book, Jeff Moss, founder of Black Hat and DEFCON, defends the purpose of the book: “You could argue it provides a roadmap for criminal hackers, but I say it does something else: It provides a glimpse into the creative minds of some of today’s best hackers, and even the best hackers will tell you that the game is a mental one.”

Want a chance to win this unique book? Share your own hacking scenario – fictional or otherwise – and what can be learned from it. Leave your story in the comments section or email me at Melanie@ITKnowledgeExchange.com.

Check out our list of top network security books for more ideas on some great reading. Melanie Yarbrough is the assistant community editor at ITKnowledgeExchange.com. Follow her on Twitter or send her an email at Melanie@ITKnowledgeExchange.com.

The old example? Forgoing the sluggish fileshare in favor of thumbdrives that cut the process of sharing files across the office down to minutes, or let her take her work home at night. But what if that thumbdrive contained 7,000 social security numbers, and was lost?

The new example: The employees who routes all their corporate communications through their GMail account, their iPhone, and their Twitter.

And “hacking work” is now pitched not as the sole province of the uber-geeky but as a necessity to staying ahead in a tough tech-based economy. Steve Rubel issues a call-to-DIY IT arms, which ends with the somewhat inspiring, somewhat frightening appeal (emphasis mine):

Those who embrace using new technologies and tools will not only survive, but thrive. No one will teach you necessarily how to do this on your own. Each information worker needs to take matters into their own hands.

So how will you adjust in 2010 to the continued rise of the Power User? What benefits and what dangers lurk ahead? Let me know in the comments or at Michael@ITKnowledgeExchange.com.