This book would not have existed but for the support, encouragement, input, and contributions of many people. We hope we have covered them all here and apologize for any omissions, which are due to our oversight alone.
First and foremost, many thanks to our families and friends for supporting us through many months of demanding research and writing. Their understanding and support were crucial to us completing this book. We hope that we can make up for the time we spent away from them to complete yet another book project (really, we promise this time!).
Secondly, we would like to thank our fellow authors, contributors, and colleagues for their valuable contributions to this book. Sarath Geethakumar, Mike Price, John Steven, and Scott Matsumoto also deserve special thanks for their razor-sharp technical review and several substantial contributions of their own above and beyond expectations.
Of course, big thanks go again to the tireless McGraw-Hill production team who worked on the book, including our editor Amy Jollymore, acquisitions coordinator Amanda Russell, who kept things on track, art production consultant Melinda Lytle, and to project editor LeeAnn Pickrell. All these folks kept cool heads in the face of a motley assortment of content from over 10 (!) different contributors with unique styles, approaches, and creative mechanisms for meeting deadlines:).
We’d also like to acknowledge the many people who provided input and guidance on the many topics discussed in this book, including Gary McGraw, Sammy Migues, John Wyatt, and the whole team at Cigital. In addition, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to our colleagues at Bloomberg for their unflagging support of our efforts.
Thanks go also to Kai Johnson for his long-time support, feedback on the manuscript, and his outstanding comments in the Foreword, as well as our colleagues who generously provided comments on the manuscript for publication (you can see their names on the outside and inside cover).
As always, we’d like to tip our hats to the many perceptive and creative hackers worldwide who continue to innovate and provide the raw material for Hacking Exposed™, especially those who correspond regularly.
And finally, a tremendous “Thank You” to all of the readers of the Hacking Exposed™ series, whose ongoing support makes all of the hard work worthwhile.
—The Authors