About the Authors

David Hows is an Honors graduate from the University of Woolongong in NSW, Australia. He got his start in computing trying to drive more performance out of his family PC without spending a fortune. This led to a career in IT, where David has worked as a Systems Administrator, Performance Engineer, Software Developer, Solutions Architect, and Database Engineer. David has tried in vain for many years to play soccer well, and his coffee mug reads “Grumble Bum.”

Peter Membrey is a Chartered IT Fellow with nearly 15 years of experience using Linux and open source solutions to solve problems in the real world. An RHCE since the age of 17, he has also had the honor of working for Red Hat and writing several books covering open source solutions. He holds a master’s degree in IT (Information Security) from the University of Liverpool and is currently a PhD candidate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where his research interests include cloud computing, big data, science, and security. He lives in Hong Kong with his wonderful wife Sarah and son Kaydyn. His Cantonese continues to regress, though his Esperanto is coming along nicely.

Eelco Plugge is a young IET/BSC Professional showing a great interest in the field of IT security. He started working as an encryption specialist at the tender age of 21, and is currently involved in the Mobile Device Management industry while sporadically writing a book. Eelco has recently completed his MSc in Computer Security at the University of Liverpool, holds several professional certifications, and has a passion for Linux, network security, and encryption technologies. Eelco lives in the Netherlands with his young family. Loves sushi, hates overcomplicating matters.

Tim Hawkins produced one of the world’s first online classifieds portals in 1993, loot.com, before moving on to run engineering for many of Yahoo EU’s non-media-based properties, such as search, local search, mail, messenger, and its social networking products. He is currently managing a large offshore team for a major US eTailer, developing and deploying next-gen eCommerce applications. Loves hats, hates complexity.