How big is YOUR pile of texts?

I've only been into this security biz for a couple months, but I have a pile of various internet obtained texts that probably numbers 400 -500 pages (thank GOD for the laser printer at work :) ) I have, however, set an ultimate goal: I have most of the Rainbow books on my HD in PDF format, and since the government no longer allows civilian acquisition for free (I'm told up until '97 they would give copies away if you asked?) I want to have a couple printed out (namely "the big red book" ) I'd probably have to bring it to a copy shop for that many pages though. So what kind of stack have others developed in their never ending quest for information?

Tengu0

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(I'm told up until '97 they would give copies away if you asked?)

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Yes, they did. You had to send your name and address to the DOD/NSA to get a copy, but it was possible. If you really want the NSA having proof that you have them.

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(namely "the big red book" )

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You have seen hackers to many times. "The Big Red Book" is not one of the rainbow books.

At last count, I had something like 2.5 cd's worth of text files. A lot are outdated now, but they have some very intersting information. BTW. Thats .txt files, not pdf or anything. Smaller files, harder to read, and no pretty pictures.

Where can I get the Rainbow bood's and the big red book (Also know as the big ugly book that doesn't fit on a shelf (Yes I Like the Bloody film!))
I found a site with thoes books on it once, but I never had the time to dl it....I'll look at google...maby they have it.......

- Noia

http://blacksun.box.sk

Not sure if this is what youre looking for but oh well...! ;)

As for texts I have millions of obselete tutorials.

I have about 100mb... not much but I just began like a couple months ago, havn't read them all, most are .pdf's of illegal books :) ... I don't have $50 to shell out to learn a programming language that's for fun...

Umm, I haven't seen the movie in a loooong time. what is the real title of the big ugly read book that doesn't fit on a shelf? Or what is it about? Maybe then we could help you out. Do you have the "Pink shirt" book? What about the "deamon book"? Once you get those two, you can be truly leet.

Hehe, wow... I gotta watch that movie again, 'Pink Shirt Book - Guide to IBM PC's'
Good times, good times :D

Alright, so maybe it isn't a "big red book" :) but there is a red book, and a pink one. Anyone interested in browsing through these books and their contents (a great deal of which is WAY over my head at this point) here's a good site http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/rainbow.htm it's where I downloaded my copies from.

The problem with all the text files floating around on the web is that most of them are somewhat (if not completely) out of date. In the computer industry, the speed of hardware doubles approximately every one and a half years as a general rule. So if you use this as a measuring stick, you could say that a single generation in the IT industry lasts one and a half years. No other industry really comes close to this in terms of evolution and growth.

The reason that I bring this up is that there are many "hacking" texts around still in widespread circulation that were written pre-1990. That makes them over ten years old (or the equivalent of six generations, going on the above assumption). So the question arises. How relavent can this information possible be given the amount of change that has occured in the industry since most of these files were written?

Sure, you could argue that some of these files include information on UNIX and other systems that have been around for decades. But just about all of the known exploits from this time have been fixed or worked around.

It would be unfair to say that none of these text files include any worthwhile information because some of them do. Also, these files are often interesting from a purely historical perspective. My point is that, we should take into account the age of the information so we can decide how reliable and relavent it is.

This hasn't stopped me from accumulating a bucket load of text files though ;).