Just Buy Spam Nation

I am still getting traffic to http://fubarnorthwest.blogspot.com/2014/07/you-can-order-pre-order-krebs-spam.html. I'm not sure why that is. The book is out, to good reviews. For those that prefer audio/video discussion, see http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/11/spam-nation-book-tour-highlights/ where there are numerous links to media that does not specialize in security matters.

Or just generally follow his blog, dammit. He's already back on ATM skimmers, which can be considered as a separate consumer safety area where he has carved out yet another niche as the go-to information source.

Here at casa de FUBAR, things are a bit busy at the moment, with things that will completely fail to interest most of the public, who just want to know how their confidential information became a $1 item in a foreign black-hat market, and what they can do to fix it.

A couple of those issues I will actually get to write about. That is not a common thing, so I am happy when it does manage to happen. But I have to repeat that this is stuff that, unless you operate in the security field, is technical, of little use to you, and will bore you to tears. In short, a waste of your time.

I'll be writing up my opinion of Spam Nation in the near future, but it will have my own twisted twist, in that it will not be a generic consumer review. Those are everywhere, so that shouldn't matter to you, if you are a consumer trying to understand this FUBAR new world. The book completely wins on that score. Really. Just buy it.

What I want to write is a post that discusses why security professionals should regard Spam Nation as important. The book succeeds on both consumer and professional levels. That is more difficult, and as I mentioned, things are a bit busy right now.

You Can Order Pre-order Kreb's Spam Nation Now

It won't be out until November. For me, that is just in time for what is probably a good read during the start of one of Oregon's famously dreary winters. The krebsonsecurity blog post has more information, and the Amazon pre-order page has an editorial review with an excerpt from Chapter 1. Back in February, Bruce Schneier wrote a Krebs post, with a link to a NY Times profile. So it isn't just me.

Brian Krebs is perhaps uniquely qualified to write such a book, as he has long been intimately involved with the field, has a history of painstaking research, and has undoubted talents as a writer.

I also have an immediate selfish interest in hoping that this book is book is as good (and successful) as I hope it to be. Several of his posts are go-to answers to important questions. The Scrap Value of a Hacked PC, Revisited is good example. I don't have to write a careful response to questions of this nature, because Krebs has been there and done that--far better than I could. I can just send a link.

Here's the thing. Pre-orders are important in establishing the size of a print run. Writing any sort of book is an immense amount of work, which can be essentially wasted in terms of ROI if the books aren't available. Ebooks may mitigate this to some extent, but from what I've read, sales of physical books still matters a lot. 

So, ROI. If his track record is any guide, the Investment has been very large. I'd like his Return to be large as well. You can think of this as a non-immediate selfish goal if, you like. Brian Krebs is a very effective Good Guy, and keeping him in the fight is a useful thing to do.