RATING  ****

Viruses Revealed is a 665 page non-fiction trade paperback book by David Harley, Robert Slade, and Urs E. Gattiker published in  2001.

Viruses Revealed is a comprehensive review of the subject, written from the perspective of a security professional.  If you’re searching for an in-depth understanding of virus programming, keep looking.  But if you’re a system administrator or technology manager responsible for minimizing risk, then this is an important reference to study.  I’d also recommend this book to any IT professional who wants to develop a good overview of virus technology.

The authors really know their field and they have a bit of an attitude, but it’s generally amusing.  They assume the reader has a modest technical background and carefully cover the fundamentals, provide a brief historical overview, then dive into virus structures and mechanisms. Good stuff, but you’ve seen much of it before, so pick and choose.  The next section – a good overview of management solutions – is worthwhile.  Then the authors select a representative sample of the better-known viruses roughly in the chronological order they were released.  Each virus is discussed, but the value of such a lengthy section eludes me.  Another place to pick and choose.  Finally, the authors examine non-technical (social) aspects, such as social engineering, legal issues, ethics and so on.  No light bulbs went off, but it’s useful information.

Excellent overview of the field, but not worth reading cover to cover unless you’re new to the subject.  The authors should have culled out much of the repetitive information and tightened the rest.  Viruses Revealed is good, but pick your spots.