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| Network Security Hacks: Tips & Tools for Protecting Your Privacy (Hacks) | 
| Author: Andrew Lockhart
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $15.69
You Save: $14.30 (48%)
Buy New/Used from $8.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  (19 reviews)
Sales Rank: 372223
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 478
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0596527632
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.8
EAN: 9780596527631
ASIN: 0596527632
Publication Date: October 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Power Tips and Tricks November 20, 2006
O'Reilly's Hacks series have been hit or miss; mostly hits, and this second edition is no exception. Lockhart and friends bring together a set of tips and tricks in the classic O'Reilly form, and cover a scattershot of topics that people like to know.
There's over 100 hacks here, and I can't possibly cover them all. I'll pick and choose topics to illustrate why I think this book is a success. As other reviewers have noted, this book focuses on Linux and BSD security, but it does cover Windows in a decent amount. This probably reflects the community's choice of OSes (but does under represent some OS X specifics), and the availability of tools and techniques.
Chapter 1, covering 20-some hacks, covers UNIX host-level security. A lot of it is stuff you've seen before, but some of it is stuff that's hard to find (ie Systrace setups, sandboxing services), or so disparate that it's nice to have it all in one place. Chapter 2 covers over a dozen hacks for Windows that are similar, securing your Windows host.
The chapters on privacy (3), encrypting services (5), and tunneling (Chapter 10) are pretty good. They're tight, well written, and clear enough that an intermediate network or system administrator could do well. I liked that chapter 4 covered firewalling for PF on BSD, Linux's Netfilter, and the Windows firewall all similarly. The hacks on VPNs using various tools are great, they're clear in an amazingly short space.
Network and wireless security get a fair shake, and you can even learn how to scan the network for viruses, detect ARP attacks, deploy a captive portal, and assess your systems for vulnerabilities. Again, a nice spread of topics, most of them well covered in a short space.
NIDS topics get their own chapter, and things like Snort setup, maintenance, and even the basics of rule writing get covered. You'll even get an intro to Honeyd for your time.
I would have liked to have seen Chapter 12 on recovery and response get a lot more time and effort, I think it's sorely needed. Perhaps if everyone writes a hack for this chapter they'll add them to the third edition.
All in all a good book for a skilled, intermediate level system and network administrator. This book carries on the hacks series with style and skill, and delivers almost everything in a small package.
 Network Security Hacks August 18, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The book is very well written in a professional form. I was able to learn a lot out of it. It should be in every IT security persons library. But it is not a book for beginners. Although all issues are well explained, a certain computer background is needed, and not basic knowledge only. The book is worth its price.
Werner Preining, captain, CPP, CAS
A good book for both Linux and Windows March 17, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
First, I write software professionally. I write software, I am not a Sys Admin (which is hard work I might add; System Administration is for hardcore people.) This book saved me money by giving me answers to problems that would have taken me days to find the answers to by searching the internet.
I would have said 5 stars but this covers Unix, Windows and Linux and I was just looking for a Linux book. It is good none the less.
Time is money in this business and this book save both time and money.
Also the book is a "good" read. The authors write well and that keeps you reading. Not a dry manual.
If you are doing Linux for fun or work you need will need to buy this book. It allows you more time to sleep at night.
insight into security April 6, 2005
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Security has been high on my list of things to understand and master these past two years. Our company's firewall has been breached numerous times. This has scared the living daylights out of our stakeholders. I have therefore been forced to become an expert. This is one of the books that has helped me attain this level of understanding. It offers insights not available in regular how to guides on security.
 May be right for Unix, but Windows Users beware February 12, 2005
18 out of 28 found this review helpful
First, let me make clear right off the bat, I'm leaving this review as someone who purchased this book expecting information on Windows Networks and was disappointed. A large part of why this book was a bad experience for me is that, when a book bills itself as covering both Unix and Windows, I assume it gives equal coverage to both.
If you are a Unix admin this book might very well be just what you need.
That said, of its 300 pages, roughly 35 of them are devoted to Windows. In those 35 pages the author pretty clearly conveys his distaste for Windows even going so far as to misrepresent certain areas of the Windows World (someone should tell the author that Windows does have a fairly powerful scripting engine). Of the Windows tips that are provided, many of them are dedicated to making Windows work with Unix in a mixed environment.
Even without the coverage, it wouldn't take much to figure out the author's bias. The book is full of quotes such as "I know we're used to a robust, powerful scripting function in Unix but Windows doesn't have this so we have to..."
I honestly could have forgiven most of the above if the hacks had been well marked so that I could tell which were Windows related and which were Unix related. That way I would have, at very least, had a visual way to skim the book and realize how lopsided the coverage was so that I could have been saved from purchasing it.
If you're interested in Windows Security advice, I'd suggest picking up Hardening Windows by Roberta Bragg. It's a much better fit.
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