Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection [Paperback]

Brian Caswell (Author), Jay Beale (Author), James C. Foster (Author), Jeremy Faircloth (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931836744 | ISBN-13: 978-1931836746 | Publication Date: February 2003 | Edition: 1

The incredible low maintenance costs of Snort combined with its powerful security features make it one of the fastest growing IDSs within corporate IT departments.

Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection is the first book dealing with the Snort IDS and is written by a member of Snort.org. Readers will receive valuable insight to the code base of Snort and in-depth tutorials of complex installation, configuration, and troubleshooting scenarios.

The primary reader will be an individual who has a working knowledge of the TCP/IP protocol, expertise in some arena of IT infrastructure, and is inquisitive about what has been attacking their IT network perimeter every 15 seconds.

The most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage for Snort 2.0!
Expert Advice from the Development Team and Step-by-Step Instructions for Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting the Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection System
Free CD Contains the Latest Version of Snort and Popular Plug-Ins Including ACID, Barnyard, and Swatch

Editorial Reviews

Review

Configuring Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise Edition teaches you how to implement, upgrade, and configure in a diverse network environment$B!&(B -- David Banes, Symantec Security Response, Asia Pacific Regional Manager

"I have been a diehard Snort user and member of the community since day one. Snort is awesome and there are so many incredibly talented people involved with it. I always wished that there was a book that documented everything, and gave lots of very cool information on all of the inner workings. I was psyched when I heard this book was being written, and I orderd it before it came out. I got mine on Friday and spent the weekend reading it. Considering the guys (and gal!) who wrote it, I shouldn't be surprised that the book rocks. Everything you ever wanted to know about Snort is in there. And, you know you are getting it from the Pig's mouth--er, or Snout ;)" - reviewer on Amazon.com

Book Description

Your Complete Reference Guide to Snort 2.0! --This text refers to the Digital edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 550 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931836744
• ISBN-13: 978-1931836746
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,878,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The current leader in the Snort IDS book arms race, July 15, 2003

By 

Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection (Paperback)

"Snort 2.0" offers content not found in other books on Snort, such as Tim Crothers' more generic "Implementing IDS" (4 stars) and Rafeeq Rehman's "Intrusion Detection with Snort." (3 stars) I've read the best IDS books, and used IDS technology, since 1998, and "Snort 2.0" is the first to give real insight into an IDS' inner workings. Thanks to the technical knowledge of the author team, "Snort 2.0" earns the reader's appreciation by explaining how and why the open source Snort IDS works its magic.

"Snort 2.0" starts well with a short history of Marty Roesch's favorite project, followed by solid explanations of the key elements of Snort's architecture in ch. 2. The actual workings of the Snort code is expanded upon in ch. 4 (modes), 5 (rules), and 6 (packet handling and preprocessors). One could read these sections and get a real sense of how the stream4 preprocessor works, for example. These sections are augmented by helpful tangents on compiling source code (ch. 3) and updates via CVS (ch. 9). This attention to detail and desire to include related information demonstrates a high level of commitment to the reader's education.

"Snort 2.0" has several technical errors or typos which prevented me from giving a 5 star review. p. 110's diagram of a TCP sessions should say "SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK", not "SYN, ACK, SYN-ACK". Later on that page, the author claims "The server replies with a SYN/ACK if the port is open, and a SYN/RST if the port is not listening." The correct closed response is "RST/ACK". p. 203 implies one can scan for open ports with the ACK flag set to evade stateless packet filters. This is wrong, as scanning with the ACK flag set only helps host discovery. I found the reprinting of multiple pages of C code unnecessary. I also wished the sections on building preprocessors had started from scratch, rather than explain an existing preprocessor.

Overall, I found "Snort 2.0" enlightening. The authors have a powerful understanding of the workings of Snort, and apply it in novel ways. "Policy-based IDS" in ch. 12 is one example, while the "rule categorization" chart in ch. 10 is another. Only the Wiley "Deploying Snort 2.0" book, due this fall, has a chance to displace "Snort 2.0" in the Snort-focused IDS book arena.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many mistakes, October 29, 2003

By 

"techwonder" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection (Paperback)

The technical content is ok, but I am extremely tired of reading books that contain so many grammatical mistakes that one gets irritated every time a page is turned. This publisher is notorious for this and emails I wrote to them were not answered. This is just not acceptable for an expensive book. Don't they have proofreaders?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth the money., May 13, 2003

By 

Steven Diaz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snort 2.0 Intrusion Detection (Paperback)

I've been using Snort for some time. I really like it, but I've always found it a little difficult to keep up with all of the features and everything. If you spend a lot of time on the snort.org site and on the mail lists you can learn a lot from everybody. But I don't always have the time to monitor the list or go through the archives. It is great now having everything I need to know in one book. Brian Caswell is the guy who makes all of the releases and keeps everything on the site maintained and he definitely knows his stuff.