Firewalls: A Complete Guide [Paperback]

Marcus Goncalves (Author)

Book Description

Series: Standards & Protocols | Publication Date: November 18, 1999

This book contains all the information a network administrator needs to know about choosing, administering, and deploying a firewall.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A statement of the Internet security problem and some solutions to it, Firewalls: A Complete Guide gauges the vulnerability of a typical Internet-connected network and shows how various kinds of firewalls can reduce the threat from outside. The result is informative; this resource will help you figure out what kind of firewall will do an adequate job for the smallest investment of time and money. Marcus Goncalves is known for the depth of his research and his detail-rich writing style--traits he exhibits here. You'll likely find support for a good network security plan in his book.

If you've never worked much with network security before, you'll be happy with (and probably terrified by) the security holes the author highlights, as well as the background information he provides on cryptography and other security technologies. Experienced hands will be more impressed by Goncalves's roundup of commercial firewall products (including Check Point Firewall-1, Sun Microsystems SunScreen, and more than a dozen others). The product profiles are more of a features comparison than a series of how-to guides, and you'll probably wish for pricing information, but the profiles ought to help you decide which products to investigate more closely. --David Wall

Topics covered: Internet connectivity, and the security risks posed by making Internet services available to users of a secure network (including specific security risks in Java, ActiveX, and other programming architectures). There's coverage of how a firewall fits into a comprehensive security strategy, and how to select a commercial firewall package.

About the Author

Marcus Gonclaves (Boston, MA) holds an MS in CIS and has several years of internet-working consulting experience in the IS&T arena. He is a Senior IT Analyst for Automation Research Corporation, advising manufacturers on IT, industry automation and Internetworking security. He has taught several workshops and seminars on IS and Internet security in the U.S. and internationally. Gonclaves is also a regular contributor for several magazines such as BackOffice Developer's and WEBster, as well as the Chief Editor for the Journal of Internet Security.

Product Details

• Paperback: 708 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (November 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071356398
• ISBN-13: 978-0071356398
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,192,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Badly Written, October 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Firewalls: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

I do not recommend this book, at all. When reading it, you get the impression that the author spent a week or two researching the subject, and then went on to write this book to make some quick cash. It is full of errors and ambiguities. What's worse, in the section on cryptography, the author has shamelessly copied text from Bruce Schneier's "Applied Cryptography". Save your money.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Below average book., July 3, 2000

By 

Tariq Masood - See all my reviews

This review is from: Firewalls: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

I think that the author should have spent more time writing quality content. It appears the book was written in a hurry or/and without indepth knowledge of the subject. The author repeats himself needlessly again and again. The captions are non-intuitive and I could not understand after browsing through 75% of the book who is the real audience. The writer is very quick to form very biased and uneducated opinions regarding comparisons and his recommendations.

There is one 7-8 page Perl freeware source code repeated "twice" in the book! The author is too gullible regarding what vendors say and what university research says. I had to band my head against this thick book several times on very childish comments :)

All this makes me believe that the book was written without real industry experience.

I am very skeptical about MCGraw Hill books now. Perhaps I'll wait for something from Microsoft Press..

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad!, February 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Firewalls: A Complete Guide (Paperback)

This book covers alot of detail. If you are looking for answers to setting up your firewall right away, don't read this book first. This book coveres to much information for the newbie admin. Although good, I felt like I was reading a puzzle. I felt like Marcus was speaking to someone who has a good understanding of network connectivity and security. This book does cover alot of good information. It's a good ref since there are not many updated firewall books on the market.