Sat, 03 Feb 2007
Network Security Hacks
Network Security Hacks - Tips and Tools for Protecting Your Privacy,
Second Edition
Andrew Lockhart
O'Reilly
Maybe you've heard of chroot() but don't really know what it's for, you've
tried tinkering with nmap or Nessus but never really knew what you were
looking
at. Network Security Hacks will tell you a bit about these and get you
started.
Think of the Network Security Hacks as a set of 125 jumping-off points in
the
world of network security. It's not intended to be a comprehensive
reference,
and it shouldn't be your security bible. The subtitle is a little misleading
for what is essentially a book for sysadmins. There are seven "user-level"
hacks under the Privacy and Anonymity chapter dealing with anti-phishing
plugins for Internet Explorer and ways to encrypt email but not much else my
Dad could use.
What this book is, though, is a nice set of short and reasonably easy to
implement steps for hardening a Linux, BSD or Windows server on a network,
keeping out the bad guys and making sure your more inquisitive users don't
have
too much freedom to "explore".
At the lower end of the admin experience scale, there's hacks for securing
Unix
and Windows hosts and managing permissions, encrypting services, managing
firewalls and secure tunnels, and an optimistically (though nicely-caveated)
short section on recovery and response at the end. At the more advanced end,
you'll find out how to do things like create a static ARP tables or use
TLS-enabled SMTP with sendmail.
The emphasis is on Unix but there are plenty of hacks for Windows. These
generally involve installing third-party applications which do lots of the
things Unix people take for granted. There's no religious war here though,
both
"sides" are presented fairly though the ratio of Unix to Windows hacks
should
tell the astute reader which one is going to make your life easier.
Whether you're running a file server on a Linux box in the cupboard or are
managing the corporate intranet, you'll find something in this book. Not all
the hacks will be useful for everyone of course, but dipping into it may
well
reveal a useful hack or two.
(Ciaron Linstead)
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pre Dec 04 reviews are here