Network Security Hacks

Anton Chuvakin writes "When I first got this little book called Network Security Hacks, I was unimpressed by its idea: a seemingly random collection of network security tips combined under the same cover. However, when I started reading, more and more often I exclaimed "Ah, that's how it is done!" as well as found better ways of doing what I was doing." Read on for the rest of Chuvakin's review. Network Security Hacks author Andrew Lockhart pages 312 publisher O'Reilly rating 8 reviewer Anton Chuvakin ISBN 0596006438 summary Surprisingly good; packs a lot of network security knowledge into a small book.

The book is structured around many security subjects. These are: UNIX, Windows, Network Security, Logging (covering collecting, summarizing and analyzing log files), Monitoring, (covering system and network monitoring and collecting various statistics), Tunnels (covering various kind of VPNs and encrypted communication), Intrusion Detection, and Recovery and Response (short section covering very basic forensics).

Each section has a dozen or more tips, each taking from a page to several pages. For example, looking for SUID and SGID files takes just half a page, while installing and configuring Snort NIDS takes several pages. As a result, the style is understandably terse and to-the point.

The book ended up being one cool collection of tips, ranging from mundane ('how to configure iptables on Linux') to fairly esoteric ('how to use MySQL as an authenticating backend for an FTP server'). If you've always wanted to use 'grsecurity' or 'systrace,' but thought they were too complicated - grab the book and give it a shot. If you want to set up a fancy encrypted tunnel between two networks, it covers that too. Admittedly, a lot of advice given in the book can be found on Google, but it is nice to find it in one place. Network Security Hacks covers selected topics in host security, SSH and VPNs, IDS, monitoring and even touches upon forensics. I also liked its multi-platform coverage, with a slight but unmistakable UNIX/Linux bias.

Overall, Network Security Hacks is a great book, provided you don't try to find in it something it isn't; it is a neat collection of simple network security tips. I somewhat disliked that many tips don't go beyond 'how to install a tool' and so stop short of discussing how to use it best. Another gripe: I'd rather some of the tips skipped the obvious (such as "./configure; make; make install") and focused on little known and cool ways to use technology for security. Network Security Hacks will be useful for people involved with system and network management, those starting up in the security field, as well as for more advanced professionals (as a way to check their knowledge and skills). Also, it helps folks to jump straight to effective ways of doing things in the areas where their skills are less developed.

For example, I knew it was possible to use SSH to create a makeshift VPN, but this books is the first I've seen with a really good description of doing so. Similarly, I found some neat MySQL hardening tips in the book. Overall, there is a lot in the book for most people who are somehow involved in computer security, particularly if they're also running UNIX or Linux.

Anton Chuvakin, Ph.D., GCIA, GCIH is a Senior Security Analyst with a major security information management company, author of Security Warrior (and contributor to Know Your Enemy II), and maintainer of security portal info-secure.org You can purchase Network Security Hacks from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews. To see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

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Goverment has its nose in everything

[SolidCore]

Representatives of government and industry already have begun addressing the needs of specific infrastructure sectors, but the partnership is intended to bring together these efforts to facilitate a broader industry dialogue and to serve as a catalyst for action, according to the release. Government and industry representatives will meet again early next year to identify and begin addressing specific areas of mutual interest.