ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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!).

Second, we would like to thank our colleagues Hernan Ochoa, Justin Hays, Carl Livitt, and Rob Ragan for their valuable contributions to this book. Robert Hensing also deserves special thanks for his razor-sharp technical review and several substantial contributions of his own.

Key contributors to prior editions remain great influencers of the work in this edition and deserve special recognition. Caleb Sima (co-author on the Second and Third Editions) continues to inspire new thinking in the web application security space, and Mike Shema (co-author on the First Edition) continues to work tirelessly on refining many of the ideas herein into automated routines.

Of course, big thanks go again to the tireless McGraw-Hill production team who worked on the book, including our acquisitions editor Megg Morin, Hacking Exposed “editor emeritus” Jane Brownlow, acquisitions coordinator Joya Anthony, who kept things on track, art production consultant Melinda Lytle, and project editor LeeAnn Pickrell, who kept a cool head even in the face of weekend page proofing and other injustices that the authors saddled her with.

We’d also like to acknowledge the many people who provided input and guidance on the many topics discussed in this book, including Kevin Rich, Kevin Nassery, Tab Pierce, Mike DeLibero, and Cyrus Gray of Consciere. In addition, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to Fran Brown, Liz Lagman, Steve Schwartz, Brenda Larcom, Shyama Rose, and Dan of Stach & Liu for their unflagging support of our efforts.

Thanks go also to Chris Peterson for his 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: Chad Greene, Robert Hansen, Cem Paya, Andrew Stravitz, and Ken Swanson.

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.

—Joel, Vinnie, and Caleb