Few frontline system administrators can afford to spend all day worrying about security. But in this age of widespread virus infections, worms, and digital attacks, no one can afford to neglect network defenses.

Written with the harried IT manager in mind, Open Source Security Tools is a practical, hands-on introduction to open source security tools. Seasoned security expert Tony Howlett has reviewed the overwhelming assortment of these free and low-cost solutions to provide you with the “best of breed” for all major areas of information security.

Inside, you’ll find everything from how to harden Linux and Windows systems to how to investigate breaches with Sleuth Kit, Autopsy Forensic Browser, and Forensic Tool Kit. For each security task described, the author reviews the best open source tools and how to use them and also provides a case study and sample implementation. Covered tasks include:

• Installing an open source firewall using Ipchains, Iptables, Turtle firewall, or Smoothwall

• Scanning ports and testing for vulnerabilities using Nmap, Nlog, Nmap for Windows, Nessus,and NessusWX

• Using sniffers and network-intrusion systems, including Tcpdump, Ethereal, Windump, Snort™, and Snort™ for Windows

• Tracking and analyzing collected data with Swatch, ACID, and NCC

• Encrypting communications with PGP, GnuPG, SSH, and Free S/WAN

This handy reference also tackles the emerging field of wireless security and covers tools such as Kismet Wireless, Airsnort, and Netstumber.

Whether you’re a Windows system administrator or a network administrator, you will come away with an understanding of how open source security tools can help protect your organization and further your own career.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 9 Ratings

The High Value of FREE / Open Source Security Tools - 2005-03-03
Reviewer Rating:
This book provides a good overview of security tools. It could help readers get started by explaining security concepts and stepping the reader through installation of useful tools. (The book includes a CD containing the utilities covered in the text.) It doesn't however, give good coverage to interpreting the results of scans and monitoring.

About 1/4 to 1/3 of the book is wasted on appendices of readily available information. GPL and BSD licenses, well-known port numbers, and a huge list of Nessus plug-ins. The space might have been better utilized by providing coverage of virus scanners or even common application alternatives that are more resistant to attack. On the positive side, the information is there so you won't need to look for it on the Web.

I like the fact that the book covers utilities for both Linux and Windows. And the fact that the utilities are free and Open Source, of course. Just using one of the utilities covered in the book would save you many times the cost of the book.

I learned a few new tricks from this book even though I was already familiar with many of the utilities and concepts.

Outstanding Survey of Open Source Security Tools - 2004-12-31
Reviewer Rating:
This book is an excellent resource to help readers understand what open source tools are available to address every dimension of securing a computing infrastructure.

What I liked best about this book is that it did not assume an already-existing base of knowledge in the reader. Other books present information that assumes the reader already understands the topic, and therefor only needs the details of how to use the tool being discussed. Howlett's book provides a graduated discussion of every area, enabling a beginner to start from scratch and an experienced reader to glean the important details.

Also outstanding about this book is the fact that it covers pretty much all the areas of security an admin will need to address. If you work through this book, you can be pretty sure that you've covered all your bases.

Because of that, the book is like a survey, rather than an exhaustive discussion of any one area. However, the author always provides pointers to other places the reader can go for deeper material. I think this is a great way to organize material and really enjoyed the book because of it.

Overall, this is a great contribution to a critical area of computing.

Good for Beginner to Intermediate System Admins - 2004-12-20
Reviewer Rating:
I consider myself a developer rather than system admin. But I enjoyed and learned quite a bit. I read this book in one 7 hours bus journey. It is very good on introducing new topics. It teaches you how to use programs and give recommandations.
I think my money is well spent.

Think it, this way. When you start to learn something new, you are bombarded with a lot of buzzwords and jargon. This book will teach you most of this buzzwords and you will learn quite a lot in reading this book. A internet search about tools will bring you more similar tools and new learning points.

As I said in the title, this books is about beginners. If you are a expert, I do not think you will gain a lot from this book.

Tools for Security Admin - 2004-11-03
Reviewer Rating:
Title: Open Source Security Tools
Author: Tony Howlett
Pages: 578
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Rating: 9/10
Reviewer: Gary Smith
Summary: Great book on tools of the trade

Today's security analyst/administrator is confronted not only with constant attacks from within and without his organization but also the twin demons of No Money and No Time. Who's he/she going to call to get out of this dilemma? Ghostbusters? A better resource is Tony Howlett's
book, "Open Source Security Tools."

The book start off with an introduction to information security and OSS (Open Source Software). If you're new to being a security analyst and you need to know some basic things about information security and threats this is a good introduction. If you're a seasoned security veteran with the battle scars to prove it, it's still a useful section as a quick reference for hitting up management (pointy-haired or otherwise) when they ask questions.

The book starts with tools that are readily usable by the security admin, tools for the operating system. These simple tools in the first chapter can go a long way to improving the security of the operating systems. From there, the chapters go through increasingly more complex tools and the problems that they are designed to confront. These include firewalls, port scanners, vulnerability scanners, network sniffers, IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems), analysis and management tools, encryption tools, wireless tools, and forensic tools.

The book gives a good discussion of why you need a particular tool, how to get it, set it up, use it, and make the most of it. Each chapter is peppered with tips and traps about the tools, a very useful thing for the harried security admin. I found Chapter 8, "Analysis and Management Tools" particularly good. Snort is a great tool but sometimes, using it is like trying to drink from a fire hose. What you need is a way to archive all that data and review it in some comprehensible manner. Chapter 8 describes how to due this using several OSS tools including ACID and MySQL. Following Mr. Howlett's steps, you'll have a management console that will aid you analysis and get the notice of your management.

I also liked Chapter 10, "Wireless Tools." Let's face it, wireless networks are hot and show no signs of cooling down anytime soon. They are also a squeaky wheel when it comes to needing oil to keep things quiet. Management can get very nervous about wireless networks and what you don't know can really hurt you. This chapter gives the security admin the tools to make sure that any wireless network in the company is secure and that there aren't any wireless networks you don't know about.

And then there's the CDROM included with the book. You could spend hours burning up the bandwidth searching the 'net to get all the tools in the book. Prentice Hall has made it easy for you by including a CDROM of all the tools described in the book right at your finger tips.

At 578 pages, "Open Source Security Tools" is chocked full of tools, tips, and techniques that any security admin can use to solve the types of problems he/she may face. The choice of tools is excellent, the organizational structure of the book is good and the Mr Howlett's writing style is easy to follow and quite humorous at times. I can offer only two suggestions about the book for future editions. One is if the CDROM were a live distro like Knoppix that you could pop into a system and run the tools straight away. The other is if the book were bound in a "lie flat" format for easier reading and use at the desk.

Get the book, use the tools, make your systems more secure, and your job easier.

Book missing CD - 2006-02-06
Reviewer Rating:
This book is now classified by the publisher as "out of print" and this is a reprint. I just got off the phone with Prentice Hall, and the CD-ROM does NOT come with the book, regardless what the Amazon listing says.

My lowered rating does not reflect the quality or content of the book, rather a gaping omission on the part of the publisher. The CD is integral to the material in the book.

Luckily - it is rather easy to download most of the tools that the book references.

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