Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls [Paperback]

Jerry Lee Ford Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0789726254 | ISBN-13: 978-0789726254 | Edition: 1

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls is designed to provide simplified, yet thorough firewall information on the most prevalent personal firewall software applications available for the non expert firewall consumer. In addition, it offers information and links to Web sites that will help you test your security after your personal firewall is installed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls is designed to provide simplified, yet thorough firewall information on the most prevalent personal firewall software applications available for the non expert firewall consumer. In addition, it offers information and links to Web sites that will help you test your security after your personal firewall is installed.

About the Author

Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, instructor, and a security analyst with over 13 years of experience in the information technology field. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and has over five years of teaching experience in information technology. Jerry is a Microsoft-certified Systems Engineer and has authored six other books, including Practical Microsoft Windows Peer Networking. He lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife, Mary, and their sons, Alexander and William.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Que; 1 edition (November 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789726254
• ISBN-13: 978-0789726254
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,609,721 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jerry Lee Ford, Jr. is an author, educator, and an IT professional with over 18 years of experience in information technology, including roles as an automation analyst, technical manager, technical support analyst, automation engineer, and security analyst. He is the author of 23 other books and co-author of two additional books. His published works include AppleScript Studio Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Microsoft Windows PowerShell Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Visual Basic 2005 Express Programming for the Absolute Beginner, VBScript Professional Projects, Microsoft Windows Shell Scripting and WSH Administrator's Guide, Microsoft Windows Shell Scripting for the Absolute Beginner, Learn JavaScript in a Weekend, and Microsoft Windows XP Professional Administrator's Guide.

Ford has a master's degree in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and has over five years of experience as an adjunct instructor teaching networking courses in information technology.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't switch to Cable or DSL without this book!, March 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls (Paperback)

If you have a high-speed always-on cable or DSL connection then you need a personal firewall to protect yourself and your computer or home network from Internet hackers. This book covers both hardware and software based personal firewalls, including ZoneAlarm, BlackICE Defender and McAfee. You'll also learn how to lock down Windows security and test your computer's defenses by using any of a number of free Internet scanning services. Best of all, with this book you don't have to be a security expert or even know what a personal firewall is to get started using one. Highly recommended reading!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not perfect, but quite useful, July 15, 2003

By 

+++ (OR, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls (Paperback)

This books leaves a mixed impression. First of all, although the book is called "for absolute beginners", it is not written as a book for housewives who never saw a computer before. It is interesting, informative, and the reader is assumed to be knowledgeable and capable of making informed decisions. In fact, one has to have a certain understanding of Windows (yes, it is not oriented towards Mac users) and TCP/IP to understand what the author is talking about. The author obviously has very extensive knowledge of internet security, and the book includes much of his practical knowldge. The negative side is that less than 1/3 of the book is generic and applicable to any firewall, i.e., discusses why home networks need to be protected, and where are the potential areas of vulnerability. The rest is step by step description of how to install and configure several commercial firewalls. Frankly, I do not understand who needs all these details since installation/setup guidelines are always included in the software manual which one gets in printed or electronic form together with the purchased program, whereas it is an obvious fact that any particular version of the program gets obsolete very quickly. I doubt that any of the descriptions of software from the book remains relevant two years after the book came out in 2001. I would rather prefer to see more generic (and less dependent on the software version) discussion of how to take advantage of the features present in most firewalls (blocking certain protocols, applications, IP addresses, etc.). All this said, this book is "beginner's guide" only because it does not get into too many details of what exactly firewalls do, and how they do it. However, those few items which are discussed are covered in significant depth and on a good professional level.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expresses the minimal level of security competence, November 16, 2003

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Personal Firewalls (Paperback)

In the current environment where cyberbaddies are lurking everywhere, anyone who connects to the Internet without protection are a direct danger to themselves and an indirect danger to everyone they communicate with. There are many ways in which a user can find protection, and one of the primary ways to be protected is to install a firewall on your system. A firewall is either a software or hardware device that scans traffic to and from the system and flags or blocks any that is deemed suspicious.
Written for the beginner, the technical level occasionally rises up beyond what the absolute beginner can be expected to understand, but that is not a negative. As most system administrators will tell you when they are overcome with a fit of honesty, the ignorance of users is the greatest single security threat. Therefore, in my opinion, if a user cannot reach the point where they can understand all of the material in this book, then they are a threat and a prime target for a cyber attack. I consider the material in this book to be an expression of the minimal level of competence and commend the authors for being right on the mark.
The initial segment of the book is a set of explanations of what firewalls are and why they are needed. In the second segment, some of the most widely used personal firewalls are described in detail, including how to install and configure them. The third and final segment is a discussion of general security concepts and tools you can use to test the security of your system.
An excellent introduction to the critical role of firewalls in securing computer systems, this book should be read by anyone who does not know the basics of protection using firewalls.