Customer Reviews

Maximum Linux Security: A Hacker's Guide to Protecting Your Linux Server and Workstation

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm still finishing up this book, but have found it to be a good, general introduction to Linux security. It does a good job of showing examples, as well as showing how to secure your system step by step. I only have two minor complaints, both of which aren't specific to this book. First, several of the urls that the author points to no longer exist. Instead of pointing to web pages, which have a very limited lifespan, it might have been better to put the text/pages in question on the CD. Second, some of the software versions listed in the book are out of date. For example, I have SSH2 installed, but the book only mentions SSH. But again, this is a common problem with computer books in general. Overall, I found it to be a good, thorough introduction to Linux security as well as a practical guide to securing a Linux system. I have 4 machines running Red Hat and have followed most of the suggestions in this book for trying to secure them.

And for Linux folks, I'd also recommend the book Linux Firewalls, by Robert Ziegler, if you want to get deeper into securing your system/network.

I haven't read any books on computer security before this one, so I can't say whether or not this is the authoritative title on the subject of Linux security. I will say that I have read quite a few books on Linux in general (Linux in a Nutshell, Running Linux, etc.) and this is the best Linux book I have read so far. It taught me more about Linux system administration than any website, man page, or other book I've looked at, despite its focus on security.

Aside from the excellent pointers it gave on properly administering your Linux workstation or server, it was a very fun, informative read.

Mr. Anonymous is a lively technical writer, and downright funny to boot. On biometric access controls, he/she writes: "I hope you're not using your computers for illegal activity. But if you are, you may want to avoid using biometric access controls, or at least not keep logs. Nothing will kill a good clean hack like incontrovertible logs."

In short, buy this if you want to get up to speed on Linux system administration in a hurry and you're already comfortable with *nix.

I have spent the last six months researching Linux security and related books to apply some of the techniques on my Linux box. This was by far the most complete of anything I have found. It is well worth the price to find all this information in one complete selection. Hats off to the author it is well worth it

After reading this book I found there was so much that I didn't do to secure my system. It helps out a lot. Goes through everything step by step with detailed instructions. Don't expect the cd to work though. Nothing would install correctly for me.

After reading Maximum Linux Security, I could not help but wonder how one person could write such a comprehensive book that is so rich in information. I am a systems security analyst, and I have been dealing with many of the issues that he talked about in the book, and reguardless of what I already knew, there was obviously room for improvement. I was also impressed with how up-to-date the information was. This is the most up-to-date technical book that I have ever bought.

This books is pretty good source of info for any Linux Admins, but the author seems to be confused about some topics, repeates himself in a few places, the structure of the book could be a little better, some of the cryptographic stuff is kind of untrue, and some things are not covered enough while others are covered too much (ie he showes detailed instruction how to compile apache+sll where he could have just pointed the reader to the README file that comes with the actual code which describes everything you need to know)... its still a good book even though it has its flaws... I would recomend it to linux administrators, and since the author provides extensive links to external materials its actualy a useful book for anyone that is interested in linux security...

This book covers all the concepts of computer security, since physical security and installation to Web servers and critical application servers. Including a BIG list of free software into a CD and links to related softwares, this book is the best 'how-to attack' and 'how-to protect' manual.

As one of the first to get & read this (if not review it), I can tell you that it's quite a nice book and has a prime spot on my bookshelf. There are a few things though, that people don't like about it because they don't understand what it is NOT. It cannot tell you everything about computer security, it cannot be very deep in any of the subjects it covers and it cannot compensate for dumb sysadmins. It CAN, however, give you a broad general overview of computer security and point you in the right direction to learn more. It's more like an index than an encyclopedia--you look up the topic, learn a bit about it then see the in depth references where you needed to know more. I mean, quick, what does RFC XXXX cover? Instead, this points you straight to the relevant info in the section on each topic, so you don't have to search through all the other RFCs and things and so that you find what you need, without wasting a lot of time. Oddly, where it has gained the most fame (infamy?) is that people see it as a 'tech me to hack' book. No book can do that. It's important for everyone to understand secuirty, what you do with that knowledge is up to you. Given that people can be "hackers" by merely running some program they don't understand, it's important that the rest of us understand how it works so we can stop them. That said, the book is great and has done its job in this regard--just read it.

I think this book is suited for the person who is just getting started in the realm of computer security. This is due to the fact that there is quite a bit of non-Linux specific security tips, like physical security. The downsides to this book are many. Lots of file output and lots of resources to look up but not a lot of content. It just seemed to me like most of this book was filler and I didn't get anything out of it. This is perhaps because I have been involved with Linux and computer security in general for a few years. So, from an experienced systems administrator's point of view: everything in this book is available on the web and can be easily found. However, if you are new to Linux systems administration and security and don't know where to go, this book could be for you.

Book "Maximum Linux Security" is a good buy for anyone who is new to the Linux world and Linux security and needs fast introduction to the problem. Book can be used as a first reference for the most known security tools, scanners, program holes and terms.

If you know what the words "LIDS", "portsentry", "ssh", "DOS" or "ipchains" means, then you don't need to buy this book. Or, if you have a time to browse the net, you can start digging by yourself.