The Art of Attack: Attacker Mindset for Security Professionals

Dependable seller, great customer service. Book was exactly what I was looking for in terms of insightful information and strategic thinking on defending against cyberattacks.

Maxie has written a book that is a how-to and provides real-world examples of the theories that she eloquently explains. The engagement she is on is a cliffhanger and she weaves it in and out of the book and gets you hooked and then goes back to explaining what she did and how it applies to the theories she's incorporates into the book. She provides succinct explanations of the cognitive and psychology of an attacker and then provides practical examples either using her own experience or other relevant stories.It is a book that I've already read once more for the novel-like aspects of it, but I'll have to read it again to extract the techniques and salient points of the life of a social engineer. Yes, it reads almost like a novel that you'll likely read twice to then extract the 'how-to' aspects of it. Far too many books talk about theory or the science but Maxie has brilliantly incorporated those along with the practical applications and the limits of those theories. I just love how she made a novel, how-to, and cognitive science book all in one.The details provided in the engagements she describes made me feel like I was right there with her and provides the novel-like experience. This is definitely one of the top 2 books I've read on cybersecurity. I will make this required reading for classes I teach on topics of information assurance and ethical hacking. More than that, have it be the center of discussions. I do believe this will become a classic book in cybersecurity literature.

This book belongs on your bookshelf regardless of your profession.While primarily for those in IT. Ms. Reynolds' book contains insight into often overlooked topics critical to those involved in cybersecurity. Part social engineering, part neurophysiology, part hacking, and totally necessary. The synergy is enveloping and captivating. I finished the first pass of this book with multiple Gestalt moments. The second read solidified the unique and impressive nature of its contents.Apologies to Maxie for the late review. I purchased the Kindle version since the paperback wasn't available in July. I wanted to see how practical some of her concepts applied to real world use cases. "Stunning" sometimes seems cliche, but it applies here.When not immersed in academia, I hack for fun and profit. I wish she had written the book while I was getting my Masters (Digital Forensics). But, fortunately, I've now been able to incorporate some of her thoughts into the literature review for my Ph.D. dissertation.

This is an excellent introduction to a practically unknown industry. At least unknown by me until a few years ago.Maxie's conversational approach of storytelling and education is exactly what I like to see in books. Give me something I can experience mentally and trick me into learning.Her use of humor (as well as the self-beneficial concerns about a company's security) makes reading this book easy and friendly.I will have to read this again to solidify this new newfound knowledge.

Based on other good reviews, I bought this book. Extremely disappointed. There’s no substance to it whatsoever. This book doesn’t actually tell you how to do anything. It seems like more of a device to market the author than to actually educate the audience. Waste of time and money. And the voice actor for the audible version is downright obnoxious. Zero stars.

Based on other reviews, my expectations were pretty high. Instead, I found the book to be incredibly repetitive and simplistic. The author repeats the same basic points over and over again and makes some very imprecise “laws” up on the way.

Have only read through the first 2-3 chapters so far but the author does a very thorough and comprehensive list of mentioning things you really need to keep in mind for pentesting or for the average informed home user. She mentions how you're not hidden with a VPN if you do not also change your DNS and other points, allowing your ISP to still watch all of your traffic. She also points out many features and practices you should always use to attack and defend yourself. Well written and keeps you engaged throughout the entire book!!! Something most authors of these books seem to struggle with. Super highly recommend this book to everyone that uses a computer, tablet or even a phone!

I found a part of me that hadn't been nurtured in a while, woke-up while reading this book. The topics of social engineering and physical/cyber penetration testing are things I deal with every day, but it was nice to ENJOY them again. Maxie Reynolds has a particular style that really captures the moment, while bringing you along for every heart beating moment. Once upon a time I lived a more exciting life, and it was nice to remember those stressful moments where I used to make split second decisions that dictated failure or success.I've found very few authors to be so open and candid about their own process, because it's leaving them very vulnerable to the world where we often choose to critique those that do. Not only does Maxie share her process, she shares the moments where she lived it which is where the real knowledge transfer happens. Her process is clearly home-brewed to, this wasn’t something she copy and pasted from a manual. I’ve read a lot of manuals on these topics, this is something special.If you are in information security this book is a MUST, even just for how she relates everything back to the attackers mentality, which should help define your actions. If you are a leader of any sort, get this book anyway because the attacker mentality transfers into many different forms, and you can always add these skills to your tool-belt and apply them to more traditional business battles.Lastly, everyone else, buy this book because it’s just really good.

I appreciate and immensely enjoyed reading this book. The way in which the author weaves the story through the pages was rather enthralling. This author knows the art of their subject but also the art of telling a story and keeping the reader engaged in the subject matter. I have read many books on the subject and non until now have kept me as engaged and left me informed. It’s an excellent resource for anyone in the field.

This book gives us a complete toolbox to understand the attacker mindset.As Sun Tzu said :Know the enemy and know yourself in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.This book follow this approach.Just one small concern: Sometimes, if you are not familiar with Security and social engineering terms, you should be quite confused but if you take enough time to double check all definition provided in this book, you can overcome that point.