Computer Science Student Needs Good Books!!

[pokemaster]

I am a computer science student and I have 6 classes left. I am intending to be in network security and administration, possibly becoming an "ethical hacker." I have the MOST BASIC understanding of programming. So programming books would be great. I am comfortable with Win7 and am currently taking a network admin class. So anything relating to Programming, Network Security, or "Hacking" (not a "how to" guide necessarily but rather a means of prevention through education).

Thanks in advance!!!!!

 

[Yami]

Hey there! I have an Ethical Hacking and Network Security degree so I hope I can be of help.

"Python for Rookies" is my recommended programming book. It's given to our first years when they start the course, so the intended target is people who either know very little about programming or who have never touched it before. I don't know about its availability outside of the UK, though.

For netsec/hacking, I will point at the essential booklist on the r/netsecstudents subreddit (it basically has what I would have typed out here). Most or all of them are available from Amazon. I suggest you first look at Gray Hat Hacking, Hacking Exposed 7, and Nmap Network Scanning.

What sort of level are you at in your network admin class? What certification(s), if any, does it provide? If you really want to know your stuff, and can afford to get certified, I would look at getting Cisco's CCNA cert, and follow it up with CCNA security. If you can't afford to get certified, it's still worth learning all the material from books/online tutorials with the aim of getting certified in the future. Finally, you'll want to look at getting the OSCP, which in my opinion is the best hacking/netsec qualification there is, for its quality, breadth of practical content, and the direction of its content toward helping you understand how to protect your network.

If you have any questions or would like any help, feel free to hit me up here or via PM.

 

[carnageX]

For programming, I'd suggest this book: http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Out-...:+From+Control+Structures+through+Objects+6th

This is the book we used in my intro to programming courses, which lasted 2 courses, but I still used it for a few higher-level courses when I needed to reference something...so it definitely lasted a good while.

IMO C++ is a great language to start out with, because you not only have low-level language background (straight up C), but also higher-level language aspects (object oriented, etc.). Both can be done with the same language, and if you learn how underlying data structures work, you'll understand more about why doing one thing is faster than doing something else (i.e. searching an array vs a linked list).

 

[pokemaster]

Thanks to both of You!! This will really help. There's so many books and resources out there it's hard to weed through. Plus as I mentioned I'm not an experienced IT professional so I really have to take alot of books i read as the gospel, which might not be the case of course. C++ is the programming language course I'll have to have in the future so I'll definitely be checking that book out. On the same note I have already downloaded Python IDLE previously to pick up on the basics so I guess I'll just get both the C++ suggested by CarnageX and the Python for rookies.

I also looked up some of the books on the list at the site you listed Yami and they all look very promising. Thanks Again!

Any other suggestions you guys have, such as how to get started in the field, where should my strengths lie, communities I could join, etc. would be greatly appreciated as well.