Doug B from Minneapolis "A disconnected mess" has a point. The book does jump back and forth making it difficult to put together the "big picture." As a programmer I did not get the answer to my questions but as an analyst this was a good starting point for an understanding of Windows security. Also, I wish the book were updated to cover Server 2008 and Vista. Still the book is recommended reading for all who wish to get a better understanding of Windows security.

This review refers to Brown's 2004 edition of "The .NET Developer's Guide to Windows Security".

Don't let the title fool you. For its size, this book is an excellent primer on Windows OS and network security for anyone. It is well-written in an entertaining style by a well-known and authoritative author in the field. I highly recommend this as a first read for anyone interested in Windows security as a programmer or administrator.

The book does provide valuable additional information to the .NET programmer, including useful examples in C#. I was able to use it to implement secure access to a database via a web service using Windows built-in security despite the fact that I was already in the middle of learning how to implement web services in the first place.

Due to its age, the book does not cover anything new to Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. I'd still recommend this book until something equivalent (perhaps a 2nd edition?) good comes out covering those topics at both the Vista AND 2008 level. Alernatively I could see one using this short book as a primer and existing books on Vista and/or future books on 2008 as those become available. I foresee this book being a primary reference for me for quite some time.

As a degreed, professional software developer, I found the book very weak in presenting a good explanation of how a programmer might make better use of Windows security.

The book is a series of 4-6 page chapters. The author constantly refers back and forth to the chapters: (item 24), (item 15) etc. There is no big picture, just page after page of alphabet soup.

I also found it annoying that the author uses 'her' instead of 'he'.

I read the online book and then went out and purchased it here on Amazon. This is a awesome book. If you are new to security or your company is finally getting serious about security and you work in a .Net environment then this book is a must start resource. I cannot recall how many times I have recommended this book. I hope the author makes updates for .Net 2.0 as well as continues to extend the book online -- simply a great read!

Excerpt from C# Online.NET Review (wiki.CSharp-Online.NET):
"I have read many Sgt. Joe Friday accounts of Windows security--"Just the facts, Ma'am"--; but, Windows security remained an occult subject to me. However, this book enables me to program security functions and to understand what I am doing. The book explains the user-based security of Windows operating systems based on Windows NT including Windows 2000, Windows XP Professsional, and Windows Server 2003."