The Bottom Line
The bottom line for The Happy Hacker - 4th Edition is that it has a reasonable amount of good information, but the writing style is difficult and a lot of the info is dated. Good for novices maybe.
Pros
- Great tidbits of hacker / security knowledge
- Novices may gain knowledge and insight
Cons
- Writing style is juvenile
- Much of the information is outdated
Description
- Plenty of useful information about the tricks and tools used by hackers to get into your network
- Useful advice on how to secure your systems and protect your network
- Much of the information is outdated and the writing is mediocre and difficult to get through
- Good source of information for novices, but there are many better sources for this same information
- Some may find the more casual writing style helpful, but it didn't work for me
Guide Review - Book Review: The Happy Hacker - 4th Edition
If there were no other books in this genre I might think this one was more valuable. The Happy Hacker - 4th Edition is written in a style that I found juvenile and difficult to get through. Carolyn Meinel does lend a good amount of humor which helps to lighten what might otherwise be a boring subject. There is a good amount of useful information here for newbies looking to pick up some hacker security pointers- but a LOT of the information is outdated. While novices, and maybe even some gurus, could pick up a thing or two there are so many other books in this field with better information and better writing styles that this one may not even make my top 10. I would be inclined to recommend Hacking Exposed - 4th Edition or Counter Hack.