The first version of Hacking Exposed came out in 1999.  The book was a game changer that made penetration and vulnerability testing available to the masses.  Needless to say that in the ensuing 13 years, there has been a huge amount of change in the world of information security.

With the release of Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, authors Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray and George Kurtz (along with over 10 contributing authors) provide an up to date version to the original classic.

The book builds on the fundamentals of the first edition, and does include essentials of hacking on topics such as enumeration, foot printing, scanning, operating system detection and a lot more.

The latest edition gets into current threats and details the new menace of APT (advanced persistent threats), embedded hacking, database hacking, and significant coverage of mobile devices.

The book also spends more time on dealing with countermeasures to the various threats and vulnerabilities detailed.

At over 700 pages, Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, the book covers every core area of interest to penetration testers.

Written in a lucid and easy to read style, the updated version remains the best book on the topic.