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Mastering Blockchain. A technical reference guide to the inner workings of blockchain, from cryptography to DeFi and NFTs - Fourth Edition

Imran Bashir

Blockchain is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, with applications in finance, government, media, and more. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, this new edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated according to the latest blockchain research. With new chapters on decentralized finance, decentralized identity, blockchain privacy, scalability, security, and bonus online content exploring alternative blockchains, this is an unmissable read for everyone who wants to gain a deep understanding of blockchain.Although this book covers the basics, including blockchain's technical underpinnings, cryptography, and consensus protocols, it doesn’t shy away from advanced topics and practical expertise, such as decentralized application (DApp) development using smart contracts. Throughout the book, you’ll explore blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) with blockchain, enterprise blockchains, and tokenization, and gain insight into the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology.By the end of this blockchain book, you will have gained a thorough understanding of the various facets of blockchain and understand the potential of this technology in diverse real-world scenarios.

Mastering Blockchain. Deeper insights into decentralization, cryptography, Bitcoin, and popular Blockchain frameworks

Imran Bashir

Blockchain is a distributed database that enables permanent, transparent, and secure storage of data. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrency – in fact, it’s the shared public ledger upon which the entire Bitcoin network relies – and it’s gaining popularity with people who work in finance, government, and the arts.Blockhchain technology uses cryptography to keep data secure. This book gives a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world.This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain, teaching you the fundamentals of cryptography and how it keeps data secure. You will learn about the mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and how to develop applications using Ethereum, a decentralized virtual machine. You will explore different blockchain solutions and get an exclusive preview into Hyperledger, an upcoming blockchain solution from IBM and the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain beyond currencies, scability with blockchain, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology.

Mastering Blockchain. Distributed ledger technology, decentralization, and smart contracts explained - Second Edition

Imran Bashir

Publisher's Note: This edition from 2018 is outdated and does not cover the latest insights on consensus algorithms, Ethereum 2.0, tokenization, and enterprise blockchains. A new and updated edition of this book that includes all the newest developments and improvements in Blockchain including the above topics is now available.A blockchain is a distributed ledger that is replicated across multiple nodes and enables immutable, transparent and cryptographically secure record-keeping of transactions. The blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, and it has applications in finance, government, media and almost all other industries. Mastering Blockchain, Second Edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to provide a detailed description of this leading technology and its implementation in the real world. This book begins with the technical foundations of blockchain technology, teaching you the fundamentals of distributed systems, cryptography and how it keeps data secure. You will learn about the mechanisms behind cryptocurrencies and how to develop applications using Ethereum, a decentralized virtual machine. You will also explore different other blockchain solutions and get an introduction to business blockchain frameworks under Hyperledger, a collaborative effort for the advancement of blockchain technologies hosted by the Linux Foundation. You will also be shown how to implement blockchain solutions beyond currencies, Internet of Things with blockchain, blockchain scalability, and the future scope of this fascinating and powerful technology.

Mastering Blockchain Programming with Solidity. Write production-ready smart contracts for Ethereum blockchain with Solidity

Jitendra Chittoda

Solidity is among the most popular and contract-oriented programming languages used for writing decentralized applications (DApps) on Ethereum blockchain. If you’re looking to perfect your skills in writing professional-grade smart contracts using Solidity, this book can help.You will get started with a detailed introduction to blockchain, smart contracts, and Ethereum, while also gaining useful insights into the Solidity programming language. A dedicated section will then take you through the different Ethereum Request for Comments (ERC) standards, including ERC-20, ERC-223, and ERC-721, and demonstrate how you can choose among these standards while writing smart contracts. As you approach later chapters, you will cover the different smart contracts available for use in libraries such as OpenZeppelin. You’ll also learn to use different open source tools to test, review and improve the quality of your code and make it production-ready. Toward the end of this book, you’ll get to grips with techniques such as adding security to smart contracts, and gain insights into various security considerations. By the end of this book, you will have the skills you need to write secure, production-ready smart contracts in Solidity from scratch for decentralized applications on Ethereum blockchain.

Mastering C++ Programming. Modern C++ 17 at your fingertips

Jeganathan Swaminathan

C++ ? ?has ? ?come ? ?a ? ?long ? ?way ? ?and ? ?has ? ?now ? ?been ? ?adopted ? ?in ? ?several ? ?contexts. Its ? ?key ? ?strengths ? ?are ? ?its ? ?software ? ?infrastructure ? ?and ? ?resource-constrained applications. ? ?The ?C++ ? ?17 ? ?release ? ?will ? ?change ? ?the ? ?way ? ?developers ? ?write code, ? ?and ? ?this ? ?book ? ?will ? ?help ?you ? ?master ? ?your ? ?developing ? ?skills ? ?with ? ?C++. With ? ?real-world, ? ?practical ? ?examples ? ?explaining ? ?each ? ?concept, ? ?the ? ?book ? ?will begin ? ?by ? ?introducing ? ?you ? ?to ? ?the ? ?latest ? ?features ? ?in ? ?C++ ? ?17. ? ?It ? ?encourages clean ? ?code ? ?practices ? ?in ? ?C++ ? ?in ? ?general, ? ?and ? ?demonstrates ? ?the ? ?GUI app-development ? ?options ? ?in ? ?C++. ? ?You’ll ? ?get ? ?tips ? ?on ? ?avoiding ? ?memory ? ?leaks using ? ?smart-pointers. ? ?Next, ? ?you’ll ? ?see ? ?how ? ?multi-threaded ?programming can ? ?help ? ?you ? ?achieve ? ?concurrency ? ?in ? ?your ? ?applications. Moving ? ?on, ? ?you’ll ? ?get ? ?an ? ?in-depth ? ?understanding ? ?of ? ?the ? ?C++ ? ?Standard Template ? ?Library. ? ?We ? ?show ? ?you ? ?the ? ?concepts ? ?of ? ?implementing ? ?TDD ? ?and BDD ? ?in ? ?your ? ?C++ ? ?programs, ? ?and ? ?explore ? ?template-based ? ?generic programming, ? ?giving ? ?you ? ?the ? ?expertise ? ?to ? ?build ? ?powerful ? ?applications. Finally, ? ?we’ll ? ?round ? ?up ? ?with ? ?debugging ? ?techniques ? ?and ? ?best ? ?practices.By ? ?the ? ?end ? ?of ? ?the ? ?book, ? ?you’ll ? ?have ? ?an ? ?in-depth ? ?understanding ? ?of ? ?the language ? ?and ? ?its ? ?various ? ?facets.

Mastering Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). Secure multi-cloud infrastructure across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud using proven techniques

Qamar Nomani, Julie Davila, Rehman Khan

This book will help you secure your cloud infrastructure confidently with cloud security posture management (CSPM) through expert guidance that’ll enable you to implement CSPM effectively, ensuring an optimal security posture across multi-cloud infrastructures.The book begins by unraveling the fundamentals of cloud security, debunking myths about the shared responsibility model, and introducing key concepts such as defense-in-depth, the Zero Trust model, and compliance. Next, you’ll explore CSPM's core components, tools, selection criteria, deployment strategies, and environment settings, which will be followed by chapters on onboarding cloud accounts, dashboard customization, cloud assets inventory, configuration risks, and cyber threat hunting.As you progress, you’ll get to grips with operational practices, vulnerability and patch management, compliance benchmarks, and security alerts. You’ll also gain insights into cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs). The concluding chapters focus on Infrastructure as Code (IaC) scanning, DevSecOps, and workflow automation, providing a thorough understanding of securing multi-cloud environments.By the end of this book, you’ll have honed the skills to make informed decisions and contribute effectively at every level, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations.

Mastering Cyber Intelligence. Gain comprehensive knowledge and skills to conduct threat intelligence for effective system defense

Jean Nestor M. Dahj

The sophistication of cyber threats, such as ransomware, advanced phishing campaigns, zero-day vulnerability attacks, and advanced persistent threats (APTs), is pushing organizations and individuals to change strategies for reliable system protection. Cyber Threat Intelligence converts threat information into evidence-based intelligence that uncovers adversaries' intents, motives, and capabilities for effective defense against all kinds of threats.This book thoroughly covers the concepts and practices required to develop and drive threat intelligence programs, detailing the tasks involved in each step of the CTI lifecycle. You'll be able to plan a threat intelligence program by understanding and collecting the requirements, setting up the team, and exploring the intelligence frameworks. You'll also learn how and from where to collect intelligence data for your program, considering your organization level. With the help of practical examples, this book will help you get to grips with threat data processing and analysis. And finally, you'll be well-versed with writing tactical, technical, and strategic intelligence reports and sharing them with the community.By the end of this book, you'll have acquired the knowledge and skills required to drive threat intelligence operations from planning to dissemination phases, protect your organization, and help in critical defense decisions.

Mastering Defensive Security. Effective techniques to secure your Windows, Linux, IoT, and cloud infrastructure

Cesar Bravo, Darren Kitchen

Every organization has its own data and digital assets that need to be protected against an ever-growing threat landscape that compromises the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of crucial data. Therefore, it is important to train professionals in the latest defensive security skills and tools to secure them. Mastering Defensive Security provides you with in-depth knowledge of the latest cybersecurity threats along with the best tools and techniques needed to keep your infrastructure secure.The book begins by establishing a strong foundation of cybersecurity concepts and advances to explore the latest security technologies such as Wireshark, Damn Vulnerable Web App (DVWA), Burp Suite, OpenVAS, and Nmap, hardware threats such as a weaponized Raspberry Pi, and hardening techniques for Unix, Windows, web applications, and cloud infrastructures. As you make progress through the chapters, you'll get to grips with several advanced techniques such as malware analysis, security automation, computer forensics, and vulnerability assessment, which will help you to leverage pentesting for security.By the end of this book, you'll have become familiar with creating your own defensive security tools using IoT devices and developed advanced defensive security skills.