Hardening Cisco Routers (O'Reilly Networking) (Paperback)

by Thomas Akin (Author)
Key Phrases: basic access control, early deployment, privilege exec level, General Deployment, Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software, Remote Administration (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
To harden a router is to render it more heavily defended and more difficult to attack. Because routers (by definition) serve as points of entry into your network, it makes sense to devote extra effort to their security. Hardening Cisco Routers shows how to make adjustments to the configurations of routers from Cisco Systems to improve their resistance to attack, particularly external attack. This is essentially a book of specialized Internetwork Operating System (IOS) commands, as well as explanations of their behavior. It'll appeal to the router administrator--employed either by an organization's internal network staff, an outside consultancy, or a service provider--who wants to know which IOS commands he or she should add to routers' configuration files to tighten their security without a lot of hassle.

The great thing about this book is that you can approach it in either of two ways. If you just want to clamp down on your routers' security weaknesses as soon as possible, you can begin with the checklists at the end of each chapter (each of which focuses on a particular area, like SMTP) or the big one in an appendix, which is comprehensive. These checklists include both "how" and "why" information, as exemplified by "Disable ICMP broadcasts with the no ip directed-broadcast command." If you want more information on the big picture, or want to prepare for a specific kind of attack, read the individual chapters for detailed advice on how to set IOS to behave as you want. --David Wall

Topics covered: Internetwork Operating System (IOS) commands you can use to protect Cisco Systems routers from a variety of attacks. Specialized sections deal with security assessment, auditing, access control, privileges, optional services, and the legal importance of your login banners' contents.

Review
"This slim tome is a veritable gem of a book. It is written in a logical and clear style that permits reading from start to finish, but each specific section is complete in it's own right and as such it allows the reader to pick up the book and dip read satisfactorily. I learnt things from this book, and for me that is the best recommendation I can give." - Raza Rizvi, news@UK

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Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596001665
• ISBN-13: 978-0596001667
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #357,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No-nonsense reference for securing Cisco routers, December 31, 2002

By A Customer

This book is concise and well written. It covers most, if not all of the areas involved in locking down Cisco routers. And it does so in clearly defined chapters, making it very easy to navigate as a reference. In addition, each topic is accompanied by clear configuration examples.
I also found it very complete. Even covering information which I haven't yet come across in the various NSA guides and Cisco texts on the subject. As someone already mentioned, you'll no longer need to trawl the web and other sources for this info; Thomas Akin and O'Reilly's have done the hard work for you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The facts Ma'am, just the fact"., June 2, 2004

By	Daniel Ginensky (Bet Shemesh Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Intended audiences: network administrators, security advisors/auditors, system architects.

This book is, pound for pound, among the best in my technical library.

Having almost no previous knowledge in router hardening (although I was aware of the basics of Cisco routers) a few hours with this book enabled me to review the "hardening" plan submitted by a highly paid security consultant, and provide useful comments on improving the proposal.

No doubt this book is the beginning, not the end, of my education on this subject. But this fine book got me off to a quick and productive start, which is high praise when compared to what could be said about so many other technical titles. Highly recommended.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Goldmine, May 24, 2002

By	Edmund Bennett (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This book is nothing short of a goldmine. I have read many infosec books, including plenty of Cisco security books, and this one packs twice as much quality information with twice as many topics in a tenth of the space. This one is cut in dry. The layout is perfect. The topic is stated, followed by the vulnerability and then the fix. A network admin's dream, without all of the filler.