The insider's guide to IPSec for every network professional—updated for the newest standards, techniques, and applications.

Using IPSec, companies can build VPNs and other Internet-centered applications with confidence that their data will remain secure. IPSec, Second Edition is the most authoritative, comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date guide to IPSec technology. Two leading authorities in IPSec standardization and implementation cover every facet of IPSec architecture and deployment, review important technical advances since IPSec was first standardized, and present new case studies that show how IPSec can provide end-to-end security in real business environments. Coverage includes:

• New, in-depth deployment guidance: policy definition, representation, distribution, and management

• New IPSec enhancements: compression, multicast, key recovery, L2TP support, PKI integration, and more

• IPSec architecture and components: payloads, headers, Internet Key Exchange, security associations, and more

• Implementation architecture and techniques, including overlapping and shared security associations, nested and chained tunnels, and more

• IPSec security in host-to-host, host-to-gateway, and gateway-to-gateway scenarios

• Establishing secure VPN tunneling

• A detailed look inside the IPSec kernel

IPSec, Second Edition delivers the techniques and insight you need to protect all your digital assets, wherever they are—on the Internet, your intranet, your extranet, or your VPN. Whether you're a networking or Web professional, software developer, or security specialist, you'll find it indispensable.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 17 Ratings

Not much more useful than the RFCs - 2003-07-03
Reviewer Rating:
I looked at this book when I was just starting out working on IPsec. I had read the RFCs once but felt I needed a good book since the IPsec protocol is pretty complex and the RFCs are not very well written. I did not buy this book but scanned it thoroughly in a bookstore. The book seems to repeat what the IPsec RFCs say without adding more to it. There are very few figures in the book to explain the concepts. I ended up buying "Demystifying the IPsec Puzzle" by Sheila Frankel which is a much better book.

Alan Kavanagh - 2001-05-22
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a good recap on IPSec if you have not been working with IPSec for some time. I recommend this book for begineers to IPSec implementators and it is a good reference book to have handy. The first few sections explain the basics of IPSec and are very well detailed without getting into the specifics. However, the sections on IKE are not well explained and it lacks real detail of IKE implementations and no good diagrams.

I found this book an excellent recap of IPSec as i have not worked with IPSec for almost 3 years, and instead the book gives good and concise information but is mostly in a synopsis format and lacks the real meat.

A good book for IPSec beginners and refreshers - 2002-11-21
Reviewer Rating:
Before reading this book I think it is good if you have a basic understanding of IPSec topics and terms. In any case, the book explains quite well the basic principles of IPSec and the associated things such as hashing and encryption algorithms (doesn't go too much into details on these ones though...)
The chapter where I lost the thread was ISAKMP and IKE.
Maybe it's me, but I think this was pretty confusing way of explaining it.
Although most likely not the only book I would read about IPSec - it is certainly a good book as introduction into IPSec and many things are explained very well which I didn't find in some other books.

Got basic VPN background? Yes? This is your book - 2005-08-13
Reviewer Rating:
Ideally, you should understand basic crypto and have played around with VPNs before reading this book. Have you configured local, gateway, and Road Warrior VPNs before? If so, this book is ideally suited for review and for filling in any gaps in your knowledge. There are some grammatical errors, but nothing serious. Some illustrations, particularly those in the Deployment Scenarios section, don't mesh with the text and require correction to make sense. There is enough information in the text to resolve these errors and pencil in corrections, but isn't this supposed to be a second edition? Speaking of mesh, I was surprised to see no mention of the highly useful mesh equation n(n-1)/2 anywhere. Instead, a more junior-level illustration is used. A combination of both would have been more appropriate for this book. Overall, this is a useful book that will take your basic knowledge of IPSEC to the next level.
4 stars, as the book nevertheless is a productive discussion with two knowledgeable practitioners of IPSEC.

BS - 2002-10-03
Reviewer Rating:
This book is a hardbound POC. The authors don't know the hell they are talking about. All the high level talks are good for nothing.

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