This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Your first step into the world of network security

• No security experience required

• Includes clear and easily understood explanations

• Makes learning easy

Your first step to network security begins here!

• Learn about hackers and their attacks

• Understand security tools and technologies

• Defend your network with firewalls, routers, and other devices

• Explore security for wireless networks

• Learn how to prepare for security incidents

Welcome to the world of network security!

Computer networks are indispensable-but they're also not secure. With the proliferation of Internet viruses and worms, many people and companies are considering increasing their network security. But first, you need to make sense of this complex world of hackers, viruses, and the tools to combat them.

No security experience needed!

Network Security First-Step explains the basics of network security in easy-to-grasp language that all of us can understand. This book takes you on a guided tour of the core technologies that make up and control network security. Whether you are looking to take your first step into a career in network security or are interested in simply gaining knowledge of the technology, this book is for you!

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

Not a good textbook - 2006-11-01
Reviewer Rating:
We are currently using this book as a text in school. The book is more like an overview (hence the title) but it's so over the entire view that it's hard to get any real substance out of it. I'd rather have just read a glossary that told me what VPNs, DMZs, firewalls and encryption are. The mispellings and other typos are enough to make me want to throw this book out of the window. Did the editor actually proofread this thing? This is an alright reference as an addition to another book but it fails to stand on it's own as a text. Big disappointment.

Filled with critical errors - 2006-07-17
Reviewer Rating:
I have been buying books/other items on Amazon since Amazon's inception and this is the first review I've written. I feel compelled to warn others.

I would have given this book four stars if it weren't for the errors. The intent and content are very good for beginners. Also, good writing style and easy read. However, there are so many critical errors, it drops the value of the book tremendously. As placed in an example by another reviewer, simply leaving out a word like 'not' can have a huge difference in meaning w/in a given context. This book does it over and over again.

Luckily, I have experience and know what is an error, but this is a beginner's guide so it is unacceptable to have so many of these types of errors. Since I don't know everything, there were a few occasions where I had to research what was stated to find correct information (knowing it was wrong, but not knowing the exact answer).

Unfortunately, if you are new to the subject matter this book covers, you will have problems as the book is simply inaccurate in so many vital areas. I would recommend you steer clear of this text.

If you know the material, it is a decent refresher that is a quick read.

So many mistakes.... - 2006-04-16
Reviewer Rating:
This is the first time I've felt the need to review a book. I'm an MCSE, which means nothing other than I've read a bunch of technical books over the years. This is perhaps the worst I've read so far. The typos alone are driving me crazy, but then I also have to sift through and try and figure out what stuff is actually accurate. For example, the author writes on page 149: "A much simpler way of looking at this is that SSH does trust any device other that the one with which it is trying to establish a secure connection." Actually, I think that should be "does not trust." Small stuff like that make me wonder if anyone actually proof-read this book before it was released. This is one I'll be returning.

Fails to find the "middle ground" between context and detail - 2005-12-25
Reviewer Rating:
I got this book after reading the superb "Computer Networking First-Step" entry in this series. Alas, this text doesn't begin to approach the easy comprehension and economy of writing that I found so helpful in that first book. Part of my job involves making decisions about network infrastructure and handling network incidents that have significant impact on business operations; I am not, however, deeply knowledgeable about networking (coming from more of a programming/database background). The "Computer Networking" book gave me an excellent grounding in the few days it took to read it. I now know what fundamental questions to ask even though I may never have seen how things were implemented at the nuts-and-bolts level.

This book spends a lot of time telling the reader that network security is important and worth doing. Fine. Except that it does this over and over. Hey, I bought the book, so I'm already halfway convinced of that and by the 100th repetition of the importance and necessity of security, I'm thinking "there's some space taken up by blahblahblah that should have held some content". Mostly, the chapters read like non-alphabetized lists of definitions and bullet points with little flow or tie-in to an overall conceptual model or context. The examples and how-to's of implementing security are explained using commented snippets of code(!). The comments explain what the code does, but I'm being made to read page after page of code when what I really need is a well-thought, consistent, higher-level explanation.

I was hoping to get a good high-level model of all the main security pieces (policy, firewalls, encryption, DMZs..), how they fit together, and some overall models of security set-ups appropriate for home networks, small businesses, enterprises, and super-secure systems. I was also hoping to understand what trade-offs were being made in going from one level to another. I think that information can be had from this book, but only by re-organizing the pieces myself and sifting through a lot of repetitive, vague, and irrelevant filler. And the frequency of typos doesn't help in comprehension either. Disappointing. I'm going to need to carefully preview other books in this series before purchase given the disparity in quality between this book and the Computer Networking volume.

Wonderful, easy read for Security Newbie as well as the seasoned pro! - 2005-11-18
Reviewer Rating:
Some recent IT Security headlines include:
"Dutch trio hacked 1.5m personal computers" (October 20, 2005)
"Hacker accesses 5,300 personal student records" (November 16, 2005)
"NMCI gets hacked" (November 11, 2005)
In 2002, CERT reported 82,094 security incidents; the 2003 number jumped to 134,529 reported security incidents (CERT website)

Obviously, threats to network security are growing more pervasive as hackers and crackers become bolder. Any IT professional, whether responsible for network infrastructure, servers, desktops, systems, web design, or database administration needs to be familiar with not only understanding network security, but also the tools and designs to develop a secure IT infrastructure. Network security is everyone's responsibility, from end-users, to IT staff, to CIOs and CTOs. Tom Thomas "Network Security First-Step" (ISBN 1587200996) provides a wonderful, readable introduction to Network Security design and best practices.

"Network Security First-Step" is not only a great primer for those new to network security, but also a great reference for those who already have industry experience. I chose to add this book to my CCIE-Security reading list as my first step toward the written exam and CCIE recert. The book's opening chapters discusses the fundamentals of network security design, why a security policy for an organization underpins these fundamentals, and then describes the core security technologies and protocols. Subsequent chapters cover the basics of router security, firewalls, VPNs, Intrusion Detection, and Wireless Security. My personal favorite chapter was the one that discusses hacker and cracker "Tools of the Trade".

The entire book is written in a style that is very fluid and conversational. Unlike many IT books, this one balances technical jargon with real-world examples and explanations. This volume would be a great addition to the bookshelf of both the IT engineer in the trenches as well as the CIO in his penthouse office. I highly recommend!

Mark Reyero
CCIE 12932

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