Internet Lockdown: Internet Security Administrator's Handbook [Paperback]

Tim Crothers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764548611 | ISBN-13: 978-0764548611 | Publication Date: November 15, 2001 | Edition: 1

Internet Lockdown: Internet Security Administrator's Handbook covers hot security technology including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, honeypots, network security on all operating systems. It explains confusing core concepts like certificates, cryptography, firewalls and encryption in a fashion anyone can understand. This book takes the theory behind security and provides real-world implementation examples and techniques.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Because it suffers from too many of several good things--namely, screen shots, command-line listings, and code listings--Internet Lockdown isn't as good as it might have been. Such raw material is valuable in a security book, but only when the author takes time to comment meaningfully upon it and explain how aspects of the examples can be made to apply to other systems and other problems. Too much of this book seems to consist of documents that were just poured into place. Some of these--like the corporate security policy template--would be more useful if digital copies were available somewhere (this book has no companion CD-ROM or Web site). Others, like some massive listings that go on at length, just aren't valuable without careful commentary that explains what's happening. Screen shots are not only numerous, but overly large.

There's no doubt about Tim Crothers's competence as a security expert--he works as a security consultant and some of the stories he tells in these pages obviously come from his work experience. Lots of readers will learn from his accounts of exploits; they're the strong point of this book. He's also pretty good about defining terms and clarifying differences (like those between signature-based intrusion-detection systems and analysis-based intrusion detection systems). Still, other security books (like Hacking Exposed and Network Intrusion Detection) are better choices. --David Wall

Topics covered: Ways to secure your computer network against intrusion by worms, viruses, and human intruders. Security policies and procedures get attention, as do ways of implementing intrusion detection, authentication, and software security.

From the Back Cover

"In Internet Lockdown, Tim Crothers navigates the confusion surrounding Internet security by combining the same practical, intelligent approach he contributes to the revolutionary threat management solutions of ITM Technology LLC." --Daniel M. Helmholdt, Managing Partner, ITM Technology LLC

There's no such thing as 100 percent security - unless you unplug your hardware and bury it. But there are a lot of things you can do to minimize the risk of intrusion, many of which are relatively easy (and inexpensive) to accomplish. Written by a top security expert and peppered with real-world insights and anecdotes, this authoritative book shows you how to map out a balanced, practical security plan. The author pinpoints all of today's most popular Internet attacks. He describes in detail the kinds of security controls you need to put in place at each level of your system. And he walks you through a vivid security implementation example, spotlighting the issues you need to address each step of the way. Get the Practical Know-How You Need to Protect Your System
* Ward off trouble with solid end-user policies and procedures
* Lock down your system with the correct configurations and removal of unnecessary services
* Harness Intrusion detection and honeypots to pinpoint and counteract penetrations
* Get a handle on best practices for security administration
* Learn how to assess threats, and avoid, control, and transfer risks
* Understand vulnerabilities in RPC, BIND, RDS, Sendmail, and other favorite cracker targets
* Use cryptography, firewalls, and VPNs to ensure network data integrity as well as confidentiality, authentication, and non-repudiation
* Prevent CGI attacks, buffer overflows, and other remote intrusions with server -side application controls
* Plan, implement, test, and verify a multi-layered security infrastructure
www.hungryminds.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764548611
• ISBN-13: 978-0764548611
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,257,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the need to know info security professionals need, November 6, 2001

By 

Abby Bernard (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Internet Lockdown: Internet Security Administrator's Handbook (Paperback)

The author has presented a realistic, hands on approach to security, circumvents the theory and gets right to practice which is what my IT staff really needs to prevent intrusions, assess weaknessses, training employees etc. Section on cryptography in chapter 5 is excellent and really explains a challenging concept in plain english. In addition to the hands on approach, the book is holistic in that it addresses security at the application level, system level and network level. I am an IT manager and the book is filled with effective best practices for our department to adopt. In addition to best practices, there are checklists in an appendix that we can use as quick references for incident responses, locking down our Unix servers as well as NT and Linux. I would have liked to have seen checklists for NetWare and Windows 2000 though. The author has also provided an excellent resource list in the back of the book. All of my staff members are getting a copy of this title to keep on hand, it provides the practical, hands-on knowledge we need to solve the security issues at hand on the fly and long-term without having to wade through 800 pages of theoretical discussions.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars At best, FAIR, March 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Internet Lockdown: Internet Security Administrator's Handbook (Paperback)

A large majority of the information presented in this book can easily be found by using popular search engines on the Internet. It seems that the author simply rehashed documentation he created in the course of his job and made a book out of it. There is no clear direction or any attempt at explaining his methods and/or techniques.

While he has an impressive area of letters following his name (CCNA, CNE, etc), none of them have anything to do with a security related certification. Where is the GSEC, GCFW, GCIA or the default standard for security professionals, CISSP??? Granted, industry certifcations usually don't mean a thing unless they can be backed up with experience but if you are going to use certifications in an attempt to sell a book, at least choose some that have something to do with information security!!