In 1997, Microsoft embarked on a "bet the company" strategy that was to reinvent the way the company did business. Even before its release, .NET made major strides in reinventing the way that software developers viewed the software they wrote.

Now that it is released, .NET and the .NET Framework will change the software development process for good.

.NET Framework Security provides the ultimate high-end comprehensive reference to all of the new security features available in .NET. Through extensive code samples and step-by-step walkthroughs of configuration techniques, the reader is taken deep into the world of secure applications. Demonstrations of creating custom procedures and a full explanation of each aspect separate this book from many other "lecture books." Many of the concepts expressed in this book are not only viable in .NET, but on the Internet in general. These factors combined make this the one reference that every developer and system administrator should have.

.NET Framework Security provides

• An extensive introduction to explanation of Code Access Security, the powerful new security system shipping in the .NET Framework

• Information on how to write and test safe applications using the .NET Framework

• Extensive coverage on how to effectively administer .NET Framework security

• In-depth introduction to the cryptography library shipping in the .NET Framework, including an introduction to XML digital signatures

• An overview of all of the new security features available in .NET

• Code samples that can be used to implement security on your own Web site or application

• Step-by-step guidelines for modifying the various configuration files associated with .NET, and an explanation of the elements involved

• Instructions for all of the aspects of security in the CLR and what it means

• How to use ASP.NET to create a secure application

• Explanations for using the CryptoAPI libraries to create your own custom functionality

• Guidelines on how to create secure network applications as well as applications that exist on the Internet

• Detailed examples of how to establish security parameters in IIS that relate to ASP.NET

• Instructions for administering .NET applications hosted in IE

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Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 13 Ratings

Best security infrastructure book I've read - 2003-02-08
Reviewer Rating:
This is the best book about the security infrastructure of Microsoft .NET Framework that I have ever read. This book has brought me the overall picture of the .NET security system: How does the system work and interact with the existing security system on Win NT platform? In addition, the book is clearly written, well- organized, and full of in-depth information.

Overall, I consider this is an excellent book which could satisfy the security needs for all .NET developers and administrators.

This book is divided into five sections:

1. Introduction to the .NET Developer Platform Security:

This section provides an introduction to the .NET Framework platform and all of the new security features available. Although this section describes only brief information, I still recommend that every one should read it first before jumping to the others. The first section "provides common background material for the topic-specific discussions in the remainder of the book."

2. Code Access Security Fundamentals:

This section provides an extensive introduction to Code Access Security, a powerful and surprising code-based security feature shipping in .NET Framework. Many new terminologies are explained: Evidence, Permissions, Stack Walk, Code Groups, Policy Levels, etc.

This section is really difficult. I felt overwhelmed with too many new concepts and skipped it. However, after reading some chapters of the next section, I realized that the code-based security concept is the keystone for the entire security system. I had to come back to section two and read it carefully. Learn from my lesson, you should try to understand it at the first time you read it.

3. ASP.NET and Web Services Security Fundamentals:

This section provides brief information about server-side security features of ASP.NET and Web Services.

4. .NET Framework Security Administration:

This section provides a comprehensive guide to administer .NET Framework security. It shows you when and how to make modifications. Some topics are presented as tutorials. It is very to easy to capture and follow the steps.

5. .NET Framework Security for Developers

The final section is devoted to developers. It provides all needed information to build secure assemblies, web sites, applications, and web services. It also provides an in-depth introduction to the cryptography library shipping in the .NET Framework and to XML digital signatures. For developers who don't have enough time to read the whole book, this is the section that you should spend your time on. -- Review by Trung N.

Good material on CAS, TERRIBLE material on ASP.NET Security - 2004-04-30
Reviewer Rating:
Four of the authors do a reasonably good job explaining the whole concept of CAS. At times, they seem to be repeating themselves, but the result is that you cannot walk away without understanding what they wanted you to understand because of this repetition.

The downside of this book is the material by Kevin T. Price. They delegated the ASP.NET/Web security to him. Much of his work is a cut and paste of the SDK docs. For his examples, he uses the grid layout of ASP.NET, which makes the declarative code completely unreadable. He leaves in all of the code generated by Visual Studio.NET, despite its irrelevance. He spends a great deal of time discussing IIS configuration, which you might argue is not relevant to the subject matter at hand (this should be a very specialized book, and it is everywhere else). He refers us to a code download on the Sam's website - unfortunately, Sam's is not the publisher of this book. He puts in some sample JSP code for no apparent reason, apparently to teach us about diversity in the web environment. When you buy a book on .NET Framework Security, it is probably because you are interested in .NET, and not because you are interested in the web development ecosystem. Finally, his grand finale chapter is on writing a secure web application. All he manages to achieve here is to create a forms auth login page. Even more troubling is the fact that this sample - in a book on *security* - has a glaring SQL Injection Vulnerability. The one thing he creates is completely and disturbingly wrong.

Web developers who buy this book to write more secure applications are likely to end up writing even worse applications by implementing his ideas.

Read this book if you want to learn about CAS. Do not stop at this book if you actually need to write secure web applications - in fact, don't even start here. You're better off sticking with the PAG materials.

A dictionary of .Net security terms - 2002-12-17
Reviewer Rating:
The book is organized like a dictionary of .Net security terms. It failed to convey the cohesiveness of the security modules. The code fragments are littered like pieces of puzzle that the authors are expected to thread together, but did not.

I didn't find the class API listing useful without implementation context to associate their usage to. Furthermore, the book lacked good editing. It's frustrating to read dangled sentence fragments interwined with code fragments.

The book does not worth its weight. Waste your hard earned money on this book if you believe in you have a telepathy connection to the authors.

A great starting point - 2003-04-17
Reviewer Rating:
This book is an excellent starting point for understanding the .NET framework security mechanisms. Especially code access security.

Its only real failings are the lack of depth in a few obscure areas (details around simulating permissions that might be granted to an app deployed via the Internet and hosted in IE).

You could glean most of this information from the internet and spend a month doing it, like I did. Or spend $$$ and few hours reading this well written book.

Good Information - 2003-04-13
Reviewer Rating:
When I was assigned the task of finding out what .NET security was all about in the web environment, I didn't know what I was getting into. The whole .NET security infrastructure is really a handful. This book helps the reader understand what its all about.

Another thing I like about the book is the fact that it has short chapters. This made it easier for me to read through it with above average speed.

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