Customer Reviews

Firewall Fundamentals

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So what is a firewall? Noonan and Dubrawsky explain, at a sophisticated level far deeper than a "Dummies" book. Starting with the basics. Namely, why you should have one. As a major defense against a bevy of malware attacks on your network. These include worms, Trojans, Denial of Service and the always popular and pernicious social engineering.

Given this motivation, the book classifies the different types of firewalls available. There are various ways to do this. One is simply to divvy up all firewalls into software, appliance or integrated classes. Another method, which might be more meaningful, focuses on the technology used by a firewall. Regardless of whether it's provided by hardware or software. The technology classification gives you packet filtering, NAT, circuit level, proxies, stateful and others. To understand the distinctions, the book also gives a quick education about TCP/IP.

One noteworthy take home message provided by the book is that a NAT firewall is a pretty simple functionality. It really doesn't give that much protection, despite what you might read elsewhere on the Web. The details given in the book should disabuse you on relying on a NAT as your firewall.

I looked and looked for a Cisco bias in the book. It comes from ciscopress.com, after all. But the authors furnish a pretty objective analysis. Yes, at various points, they talk about what Cisco provides in this arena. But Cisco is a major player, and needs to be discussed. It's a disservice to the reader to omit it. Plus, other vendors also get fair play, like Trend Micro or Microsoft.

Firewall Fundamentals provides what I see as the first clear book in many years on the oldest known protection for the Information Technology field. Authors Wes Noonan and Ido Dubrawsky take the concepts of protection at the basic level and slowly walk the reader through protection and defense from the introduction of threats to the details of advanced firewalls like the Cisco PIX and ASA appliances to Microsoft's ISA application. While this book may to be advanced in nature, it explains in detail the simple items that make the understanding of Firewalls and their technology important. Even from the goal of the book "...personal and desktop..." where the authors clear state that no level will be untouched does this book make one feel comfortable and unafraid.

Considering that this is a Cisco Press, book it surprised me that the amount of non-Cisco detail the authors' included, from Checkpoint and Microsoft ISA in the larger areas to Trend-Micro in the smaller areas. These guys ensured in this book a level of detail and understanding that will guarantee a complete read; even a Security Engineer, like myself who has learned the advanced concepts and deployment methods/reasons for security, gained new insight into the world I work in. For both Noonan and Dubrawsky present the items I sometimes miss, the obvious and clear issues that the regular individuals encounter and need to help them.

Noonan and Dubrawsky start with the simple items and basic concepts slowly and adding to them while not forgetting the assumed reader. This book is divided into four sections including the Appendixes: The first of the major section as always the Introduction which covers the basics from what a threat is to the difference between a personal (computer) based firewall to a network firewall.

After the basics are covered the authors' begin moving into the how of firewall technology from the personal computer to the common home-office like Linksys and finally into the realm of small office and hardware that include the Cisco platforms. While these chapters may appear to focus more on the Cisco Products they do include important other chapters that deal with items like where a firewalls belongs within the network. Within this section of the book we see items as mentioned like the Linksys and Cisco products, but we also see NetFilter and other freeware and pay products including Microsoft's ISA and Checkpoint mentioned, configured and discussed in detail. Within Chapter 7 the Linux products that are slowly advancing in the industry due to their cost and availability are detailed with the NetFilter product. Flow-charts and diagrams again help to explain not only this product, but the key concepts behind firewall technologies and examples of scripting help individuals learn and understanding what should be occurring with the product.

Finally the last key section deals with the importance of Managing and Maintenance any Firewall. From policy management to troubleshooting they do not leave anything out. I personally found the chapter entitled "What is My Firewall Telling Me?" very different from what I would expect in a simple how to read the logs chapter. The authors took time to explain the concepts of logging, the importance and different methods to read the log. Again they showed that this is not a book that is Cisco centric on Cisco heavy by using products and screen shots of non-Cisco items like Microsoft and NetIQ.

What this book is missing is a disclaimer that while published by Cisco Press it is not entirely Cisco Centric and this is a good thing. Yes as many people know Cisco is a large player in the field of networking and information security these author's do everything to ensure a fair and equal play of the others I have mentioned before. I feel that if you where looking for a book to help anyone with a small or home office environment protect it, this is the book you need. While I found adding it to my collection a positive and enjoyable experience, I can only hope that you will too.

Firewalls have gone from a luxury to a necessity in the computer world, and today a thorough understanding of their function and setup is required reading for any serious networker, programmer, or computer operator. Firewall Fundamentals: An Introduction To Network And Computer Firewall Security addresses all issues, providing a through introduction to firewalls, how they protect, up to more advanced TCP/IP protocols and firewall configuration for Linux and other systems. From application proxy firewalls to security policies and rules, Firewall Fundamentals holds it all.

I taught a course in computer security and a course in advanced networking during the spring semester of 2008. Both of those classes contained some coverage of the role of computer firewalls and the techniques they use to protect computers from malicious entities. This was the primary resource I used in my presentations of firewalls and in that context, I found it invaluable.

There are three main sections:

*) Introduction to firewalls

*) How firewalls work

*) Managing and maintaining firewalls

For the computer security course, the second section was the most valuable, for in that course we discussed the mechanics of how security is provided on the border of the network with the exterior world. Specifically, chapter 8 "Application Proxy Firewalls" and chapter 9, "Where Firewalls Fit in a Network" were useful.

The last section was of major importance in the advanced networking course since the emphasis in the course was on network management. I required the students to write a major document on network management policy and the ruleset for managing the firewall(s) was a major section of it. Specifically, chapter 10 "Firewall Security Policies" and chapter 11 "Firewall Policies/Rulesets" were useful.

This book is an excellent introduction to firewalls and contains enough advanced material for it to be useful for the training of networking professionals.

Don't let the title fool you into thinking the book is only of value to novices. Instead the book goes into unexpected levels of detail while still staying easy to read. I was surprised at how much detail there was. There was a lot more information that I would have expected. I think a wide range of skill levels can still find value in the book as an everyday reference, or to study up on the topic. I would highly recommend this as a vendor-neutral book for your networking collection.

As an IT professional, I know and understand that firewalls are a requirement in today's computing environment. But as a developer, the details of firewalls are pretty much a black box to me. I was pleasantly surprised with the book Firewall Fundamentals - An introduction to network and computer firewall security by Wes Noonan & Ido Dubrawsky. I actually understood most of it! :)

Contents:

Part 1 - Introduction to Firewalls: Introduction to Firewalls; Firewall Basics; TCP/IP for Firewalls

Part 2 - How Firewalls Work: Personal Firewalls - Windows Firewall and Trend Micro's PC-cillin; Broadband Routers and Firewalls; Cisco PIX Firewall and ASA Security Appliance; Linux-Based Firewalls; Application Proxy Firewalls; Where Firewalls Fit in a Network

Part 3 - Managing and Maintaining Firewalls: Firewall Security Policies; Managing Firewalls; What Is My Firewall Telling Me?; Troubleshooting Firewalls; Going Beyond Basic Firewall Features

Part 4 - Appendixes: Firewall and Security Tools; Firewall and Security Resources; Index

There were actually a number of surprising aspects to this book (all good). The first thing that surprised me is that this is a Cisco Press book. As such, I would have expected a huge bias towards Cisco technology at the expense of everything else. Yes, most of the options and solutions covered include the Cisco offering in that category. But the overall focus is on the underlying technology instead of the vendor offering. That means that you are getting great information on firewalls, not just how Cisco does it. Another surprising aspect for me was the range of experience that is targeted in the book (and successfully at that). Part 1 was perfect for someone like me who isn't intimately acquainted with the inner workings of a firewall. Part 2 covers the range of solutions, both hardware and software, personal and enterprise. And Part 3 is one of those sections that you'd likely use on a regular basis at work if you're responsible for the care and feeding of network security. The information is extremely practical, and having checklists for troubleshooting may just be something that bails you out of some ugly situations...

There's not too many books that can pull off the difficult task of reaching all experience levels on a subject. The fact that this book does it while being published under a vendor imprint is even more impressive. Definitely a book I'd recommend on the topic of firewalls...

Perhaps the most striking thing about this book is that it is not totally Cisco based. Often books from Cisco Press seem like they are really Cisco manuals that have been rewritten. When I picked this book up I was expecting to see nothing but the Cisco PIX Firwall and of course the new Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA). And yes, Chapter 6 is on the PIX/ASA Firewall. But then you go to Chapter 7 and it's about Linux based firewalls that can be put on a basic generic PC at a dramatically lower cost.

Also, somewhat surprising to see a chapter on what you might call personal firewalls, where it specifically covers the firewall that comes with Windows XP and the very popular Trend Micro's PC-cillin.

Basically this excellent book starts with a definition of firewalls, what they are, what they are supposed to do, why they sometimes fail. In short everything you need to know about firewalls. This includes some information that goes down to the basics of TCP/IP through what the screens look like for setting up the common firewalls. I also liked where he talks about points where some experts don't agree with others. When they do this, they point out the good and bad points of both positions.

All in all, an excellent book that meats the goals of discussing the fundamentals of firewalls.