Acknowledgments
Honey Bear
To my wife, Samantha: We’ve come a long way since being scared teenagers expecting a baby! Your support no matter the projects I take on, your understanding no matter how much I complain, and your composure no matter what comes at our family are legendary and have kept our family chugging along.
Lizard
To my oldest daughter, Liz: Your work ethic, attention to detail, and drive to succeed are an inspiration to me. I’m looking forward to the coming years as you take on your next challenges, as I have no doubt you will succeed with flying colors!
Baby Bird
To my youngest daughter, Maddie: Your smile and playful nature always pick me up and make me realize how good we have it. If four open-heart surgeries won’t slow you down, what excuse does anybody else have? Keep smiling, playing, and being yourself—we’re all better off that way!
Family and Friends
Huge thanks to Merm, Tara, Halverto, Stacy & Steph, Luke & Tracy, David, Dr. B, Crony, my DSU students, and everybody else that I’ve surely forgotten that have provided friendship and support. Salute!
And a special note to Dr. Patrick Engebretson, a great friend and colleague, that I’ve shared many beers, fried goodies, stories, car rides, and office visits with. Your assistance through this publishing process has been a tremendous help. Do work, big boy!
Last, to my parents, Dr. Wayne and Dr. Crystal Pauli: It appears that those years of twisting my ear, filling my mouth full of soap, and breaking wooden spoons on my butt have finally paid off! (That stuff was allowed in the 1980s and it’s obvious now that I wasn’t the easiest child to raise.) Your love and support have never wavered and I couldn’t ask for better parents.
Security Community
Man, what a group. It doesn’t matter if you’re a complete beginner, a super l33t hacker, or anywhere in between, you’re always welcome if you’re willing to learn and explore. As a South Dakota guy, I have my own personal “Mount Rushmore of Security”: a group that not only is highly skilled in security but also has provided me with a ton support.
■ To Dr. Jared DeMott: You’re one of the finest bug hunters/exploitation gurus in the world, but an even better family man and friend. With all your success it would be easy to forget about us “little people” at Dakota State University, but instead you’ve never been a bigger supporter of our mission and goals.
■ To Dave Kennedy: HUGS! You’re one of the most encouraging security people that I’ve ever come across. The amount of fun you have working, training, speaking, and just hanging out with the security community is what this is all about. I’m glad our paths crossed and I look forward to many more years of watching you continue to flourish. MORE HUGS!
■ To Eric Smith: I will never forget watching in awe as you dominated as a one-man red team for our security competition at DSU. Your personal story of hard work, dedication, and hours spent perfecting your craft is one that I’ve relayed to my students hundreds of times. Thanks for always making time to come back to Madison, SD, and furthering your demigod status with our students!
■ To Dafydd Stuttard: I blame you for all of this! The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook (WAHH) that you authored with Marcus Pinto was one of the first premiere security books that I really dug into. After attending your classes, being the technical reviewer on the 2nd edition of WAHH, using your Burp Suite web application hacking tool extensively, and exchanging countless e-mails with you, it’s crystal clear that you’re the Godfather of web application security. I’ve educated over 400 students with WAHH and Burp Suite and hope my book can serve as an on-ramp to your super highway.
Scott White—Technical Reviewer
A special thanks to Scott White for doing a tremendous job reviewing and cleaning up my work. With all the different directions you get pulled and requests for your time, I truly appreciate your expertise, timeliness, and honest feedback. This book is much stronger because of your work!
Syngress Team
To all the fine folks at Syngress that took a chance on me and provided nothing but the best in service, feedback, and critiques in an uber-timely manner. Especially, Chris Katsaropoulos and Ben Rearick—your professionalism and tact are greatly appreciated and are the way an organization should operate.
My Vices
In no particular order, I’d like to thank corndogs, Patron Silver, HOTEL32 at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas (especially @JohnnyLasVegas and Patty Sanchez), Mickey’s malt liquor, fantasy football, Pringles, and my 6-iron for helping me recharge.