Books for/about - cisco firewall

Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Handbook, First Edition

Publisher: Cisco Press
Authors: David Hucaby

ISBN: 1587051583
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 3
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Summary: Very little on ASA
This book is very helpful for PIX firewalls, but is mislabeled for ASA. There is very little on the ASA product. Usually just a mention of command differences between ASA and PIX. If you are looking for a book on ASA do not buy this book.

Summary: One point makes this book a must have
Most commands explained have three lines:
PIX 6.3
PIX 7.0
FWSM

This allows you to work on multiple platforms easily with one handbook. Also tells you when something ISN'T supported so you don't have to go digging on the web.

Summary: Must have, easy to grab book.
I recently read the book titled "Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Handbook" by David Hucaby. ISBN: 1587051583. I've been working with Cisco PIX firewall's for several years and while they are fairly straight forward to configure the basic function of the system, some of the more robust features of the product can be complex in concept. This is certainly the case when considering all of the new features of the PIX 7.0 code.
This title does an outstanding job at bridging the information gap for the old crusties that have used PIX for years. Each section is laid out to explain and contrast how each feature is configured for the Cisco PIX, the new Adaptive Security Appliance, and the Firewall Switch Module and for the IOS Firewall code. It has everything you should and need to know to administer the equipment effectively. There is little fluff or filler in these pages. Mostly straight to the point configuration examples that allow the readers to maximize their time getting work done.
I was really excited when I saw that Cisco Press was coming out with a title that covers the new Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance). My excitement quickly turned to confusion when I started reading through the title. Aside from the great documentation on the PIX, FWSM and FW IOS, it's very difficult to identify what information pertains to the Adaptive Security Appliance. I'm still not clear why this book claims to include information on the ASA. It's either ignorance on my part or there is not enough content in the book to justify the title. This observation in no way takes away from the book rich information regarding the FWSM 2.x, PIX 6.x and PIX 7.x. Since the title was published not long after the PIX 7.0 code was released, I wonder if it was too soon to cover a topic so new in a book. The author however, covers the main features of 7.0 very well and it's extremely helpful to have this handbook for those transitioning to the new PIX 7.0 code.
I think this title is best suited for any person that administers Cisco security devices like the Cisco PIX, the FWSM or running Cisco Firewall IOS in their environment. The title covers more detail that what the Cisco on-line (CCO) has to offer in most cases. The title picks up where the product command reference and configuration examples leave off. Certainly a must have title for any security administrator to have in order to ensure that the equipment is leveraged to it's maximum potential and to minimize mis-configurations that may contribute to increased exposure or unintended security risks.
There aren't many diagrams in the book; however there are diagrams where they serve best. Most of the book in centered on the CLI configuration of the equipment. Administrators that rely or use the web interface to configure these devices won't see much supporting information on the web interface. In my opinion, that's a good thing, because administrators should know what's going on under the covers of any GUI interface for independency and security reasons.
Some of the sections that I found the most beneficial where the sections that cover the new features like Transparent Firewall Mode, Active-Active Failover and Using Security Contexts to Make Virtual Firewalls. These are all new features that have a lot a benefit. When learning something new, it's always good to get as much information about the subject as possible. It helps to formulate a solid understanding of the new topic.
All-in-All this is a great title worthy of the Cisco Press legacy. The author has done a great job covering all the essentials in one easy to grab title.

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Cisco ASA: All-in-One Firewall, IPS, and VPN Adaptive Security Appliance

Publisher: Cisco Press
Authors: Omar Santos Jazib Frahim

ISBN: 1587052091
List Price: $70.00
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Good reference
This book helped me a lot. I recently deployed over 250 ASAs and was running into a lot of problems with the IPS SSM and VPN features. I got most of my answers from this book.

Summary: Very Amatuer
What a waste of time it was reading this book. If you are not very familiar with FW/IPS or VPN then this may be helpful, but if you have been working with this technology and Cisco's products that address these technologies (ASA, PIX, IPS, VPN3k) then please don't refer to this joke. Go online to cisco.com and do the research. Sometimes it felt as if whitepapers were copied and pasted.

Very dissapointed.

Summary: Excellent Book on Cisco ASA.
I bought this book 2 weeks back for an ASA project that my company is going to deploy. I am really amused to see that each chapter starts off with an in-depth architectural overview of the features to be discussed. It then provides full step-by-step configuration examples with lots of deployment scenarios. It even covers many troubleshooting and monitoring examples that helped me a lot when I started deploying it in my lab network
This book is a must have if you are to use Cisco ASA in your network.
I strongly recommend this Book and give 5 stars on the scale of 5.

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	Cisco(R) PIX (TM) Firewalls Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Authors: Richard Deal
ISBN: 0072225238 List Price: $49.99 Amazon Price: $31.49 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: A valuable source of information Its contents is the best I was able to find for a relatively novice. It covers all areas with examples and diagrams that complement the explanations. A must have for newbies. Summary: excellent resource It gave a great for overview for beginners and yet still has good information to be kept as a reference. He also has over 100 additional pages of info on his website. Great Buy Summary: Great PIX reference This is a great book on how to use the Cisco PIX firewall. Even though Cisco has great documentation, there is still a lot you can learn about PIX, and this book show you how. Summary:

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Securing Your Business with Cisco ASA and PIX Firewalls

Publisher: Cisco Press
Authors: Greg Abelar

ISBN: 1587052148
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Summary: Completely Awesome Book
This book 'Securing Your Business with Cisco ASA and PIX Firewalls' is absolutely awesome, I wish I could give it siz stars. The sections that VERY CLEARLY explian problems that you can run into on the internet and the sections on how to deploy a new ASA device are fantastic. The Step-by-step, saved me about $2,500 - $3,000 dollars because I didn't have to hire a consultant to do the installation for me. I looked at the ASA Handbook as suggested by another reviewer, although that book is pretty good, I found this book to be much more simple and to the point.

Summary: Waste of money
Sadly, this think book is all but useless for anything beyond a very standard configuration of Cisco's (new) ASA devices.

It hardly provided more information than what you get with the Quickstart guide that's included with the appliance itself. That means some simple scenarios with an Internet connection, a DMZ and a main LAN, with a bit of NAT thrown in.

Half the book is generics, such as the importance of protecting your network and other such items. No explanation of the how's and why's. You're better off downloading the technical documents and white papers off Cisco's website. Or even poring over the PIX/ASA command line guide, even if you intend to use ASDM.

A much better choice is the "Cisco ASA and PIX Firewall Handbook".

Summary: Good Introduction, Good Instruction
Oh if life were only easier. The web must be a lot like the old west was rumored to be. Except that there doesn't even appear to be a sheriff anywhere around. All of us have to build our own little forts for protection against the bad guys. One of the best forts you can build uses the Cisco ASA/PIX Security Appliance.

You can, of course, set up the equipment without anything but the manual. But this book goes into a lot more background that is very nice to know. It starts with why they might want into your network. (I couldn't imagine why anyone would want into mine until they started attacking to use my equipment for re-mailing and bandwidth.) It then goes into they types of attacks that might be used against you.

It's probably impossible to build a totally secure system unless it isn't connected to the outside world in any way at all. But when your users want things like e-mail, web access and more, you've got to do something. The Cisco approach at least makes it very difficult for all but the most determined bad buy to get into your system.

The author has been working on the Cisco approach to security since 1996, he understands it pretty well and has a good writing style to make it understandable to you. Highly Recommended!

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Firewall Fundamentals (Fundamentals (Cisco Press))

Publisher: Cisco Press
Authors: Wes Noonan Ido Dubrawsky

ISBN: 1587052210
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Summary: Cisco's Replacement for a Dummies Guide to Firewalls
Firewall Fundamentals provides what I see as the first clear book in many years on the oldest known protection for the Information Technology field. Authors Wes Noonan and Ido Dubrawsky take the concepts of protection at the basic level and slowly walk the reader through protection and defense from the introduction of threats to the details of advanced firewalls like the Cisco PIX and ASA appliances to Microsoft's ISA application. While this book may to be advanced in nature, it explains in detail the simple items that make the understanding of Firewalls and their technology important. Even from the goal of the book "...personal and desktop..." where the authors clear state that no level will be untouched does this book make one feel comfortable and unafraid.

Considering that this is a Cisco Press, book it surprised me that the amount of non-Cisco detail the authors' included, from Checkpoint and Microsoft ISA in the larger areas to Trend-Micro in the smaller areas. These guys ensured in this book a level of detail and understanding that will guarantee a complete read; even a Security Engineer, like myself who has learned the advanced concepts and deployment methods/reasons for security, gained new insight into the world I work in. For both Noonan and Dubrawsky present the items I sometimes miss, the obvious and clear issues that the regular individuals encounter and need to help them.

Noonan and Dubrawsky start with the simple items and basic concepts slowly and adding to them while not forgetting the assumed reader. This book is divided into four sections including the Appendixes: The first of the major section as always the Introduction which covers the basics from what a threat is to the difference between a personal (computer) based firewall to a network firewall.

After the basics are covered the authors' begin moving into the how of firewall technology from the personal computer to the common home-office like Linksys and finally into the realm of small office and hardware that include the Cisco platforms. While these chapters may appear to focus more on the Cisco Products they do include important other chapters that deal with items like where a firewalls belongs within the network. Within this section of the book we see items as mentioned like the Linksys and Cisco products, but we also see NetFilter and other freeware and pay products including Microsoft's ISA and Checkpoint mentioned, configured and discussed in detail. Within Chapter 7 the Linux products that are slowly advancing in the industry due to their cost and availability are detailed with the NetFilter product. Flow-charts and diagrams again help to explain not only this product, but the key concepts behind firewall technologies and examples of scripting help individuals learn and understanding what should be occurring with the product.

Finally the last key section deals with the importance of Managing and Maintenance any Firewall. From policy management to troubleshooting they do not leave anything out. I personally found the chapter entitled "What is My Firewall Telling Me?" very different from what I would expect in a simple how to read the logs chapter. The authors took time to explain the concepts of logging, the importance and different methods to read the log. Again they showed that this is not a book that is Cisco centric on Cisco heavy by using products and screen shots of non-Cisco items like Microsoft and NetIQ.

What this book is missing is a disclaimer that while published by Cisco Press it is not entirely Cisco Centric and this is a good thing. Yes as many people know Cisco is a large player in the field of networking and information security these author's do everything to ensure a fair and equal play of the others I have mentioned before. I feel that if you where looking for a book to help anyone with a small or home office environment protect it, this is the book you need. While I found adding it to my collection a positive and enjoyable experience, I can only hope that you will too.

Summary: Does an Excellent Job
Perhaps the most striking thing about this book is that it is not totally Cisco based. Often books from Cisco Press seem like they are really Cisco manuals that have been rewritten. When I picked this book up I was expecting to see nothing but the Cisco PIX Firwall and of course the new Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA). And yes, Chapter 6 is on the PIX/ASA Firewall. But then you go to Chapter 7 and it's about Linux based firewalls that can be put on a basic generic PC at a dramatically lower cost.

Also, somewhat surprising to see a chapter on what you might call personal firewalls, where it specifically covers the firewall that comes with Windows XP and the very popular Trend Micro's PC-cillin.

Basically this excellent book starts with a definition of firewalls, what they are, what they are supposed to do, why they sometimes fail. In short everything you need to know about firewalls. This includes some information that goes down to the basics of TCP/IP through what the screens look like for setting up the common firewalls. I also liked where he talks about points where some experts don't agree with others. When they do this, they point out the good and bad points of both positions.

All in all, an excellent book that meats the goals of discussing the fundamentals of firewalls.

Summary: no Cisco bias
So what is a firewall? Noonan and Dubrawsky explain, at a sophisticated level far deeper than a "Dummies" book. Starting with the basics. Namely, why you should have one. As a major defense against a bevy of malware attacks on your network. These include worms, Trojans, Denial of Service and the always popular and pernicious social engineering.

Given this motivation, the book classifies the different types of firewalls available. There are various ways to do this. One is simply to divvy up all firewalls into software, appliance or integrated classes. Another method, which might be more meaningful, focuses on the technology used by a firewall. Regardless of whether it's provided by hardware or software. The technology classification gives you packet filtering, NAT, circuit level, proxies, stateful and others. To understand the distinctions, the book also gives a quick education about TCP/IP.

One noteworthy take home message provided by the book is that a NAT firewall is a pretty simple functionality. It really doesn't give that much protection, despite what you might read elsewhere on the Web. The details given in the book should disabuse you on relying on a NAT as your firewall.

I looked and looked for a Cisco bias in the book. It comes from ciscopress.com, after all. But the authors furnish a pretty objective analysis. Yes, at various points, they talk about what Cisco provides in this arena. But Cisco is a major player, and needs to be discussed. It's a disservice to the reader to omit it. Plus, other vendors also get fair play, like Trend Micro or Microsoft.

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	Cisco Router Firewall Security Publisher: Cisco Press Authors: Richard Deal
ISBN: 1587051753 List Price: $60.00 Amazon Price: $51.43 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 5 Reviews: Summary: Excellent reference for securing Cisco Routers The two things I like most about this book are the lack of typos, and the chapter structure, in which each successive chapter builds on the security and lessons preened from previous chapters. A great Cisco router security reference. Summary: Best-of-class book at implementing security on Cisco routers - check it out for the CCIE! CiscoPress's "Cisco Router Firewall Security" by Richard Deal is designed as a book to secure perimeter routers. It is both a practical (and much needed) CiscoPress guide on how to harden a key piece of the network AND an excellent tool for any potential CCIE candidate (either for the Security and R&S lab). On pretty-much every page are either detailed diagrams or complex configurations discussing the topic at hand. The other reviews of this book all comment from a security perspective, and I cannot hope to add anything new to these reviews (especially Richard Bejtlich's review). I can comment from the perspective as someone studying for the CCIE. In Parts 3 and 4, the book dives into the different types of ACLs that you may encounter on the lab. Reflexive ACLs, CBAC (Content-Based Access Control), and NBAR (Network-Based Application Recognition) are each given their own chapter and fully explained in depth (something not replicated in other CiscoPress books - I own over 50 CiscoPress books). I particularly like the discussion on page 308 on how best to counter a Smurf Attack. Chapter 13 on Lock-and-Key ACLs is also a valuable must-read for any potential CCIE candidates. In chapter 17, on page 679, is a great discussion on how to counter a TCP SYN flood attack. Overall, I think "Cisco Router Firewall Security" is the best CiscoPress book published that discusses best-practices for securing Cisco routers. Too be honest, I am kind of surprised I do not see more 'noise' on this book (either from reviews here or on the CCIE list at Groupstudy.com). I have to believe it is from the title, as the title almost implies that this is a firewall book. That is too bad, as this is an excellent book for any network admin concerned about security. Weighing in at over 850 pages, this book will take some time to digest, but will be well worth the effort! I give this book 5 pings out of 5: !!!!! Summary: An indispensable instructional reference In Cisco Router Firewall Security, computer security expert Richard Deal provides truly indepth, step-by-step coverage on just how to configure a Cisco router to secure access to it. Cisco Router Firewall Security deftly explains how to use IOS routers as a firewall solution for protecting a data network from outsiders, especially hackers. Each part of Cisco Router Firewall Security addresses a specific type of technology or security issue and covers the IOS features both old and new that can be used to implement each security feature. Cisco Router Firewall Security is an indispensable instructional reference. Summary:

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Cisco Security Specialist's Guide to PIX Firewall

Publisher: Syngress Publishing
Authors: Umer Khan Vitaly Osipov Mike Sweeney Woody Weaver

ISBN: 1931836639
List Price: $59.95
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
Reviews:
Summary: Very Useful book
I got this book to configure a Cisco Secure ACS with VPN clients, and i reached my goal. And you can get many other topics in a cookbook style. You can read the technical information or only take ideas from examples. Excellent PIX firewall book.

Summary: Good Resource
This book well and truly paid for itself after the first couple of chapters. We found a number of areas where our setup was wrong and this book provided a very indepth look at the PIX product and enabled us to fix this easily and quickly. Good book for all users.

Summary: Great book
Excellent book, everything you want to know about the Pix. Very thorough, topics are explaned well, in great detail and with good examples. This is the best Pix book on the market that I know of.

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Cisco Secure PIX Firewalls

Publisher: Cisco Press
Authors: David W. Chapman Jr. Andy Fox

ISBN: 1587050358
List Price: $35.00
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 3
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Summary: Slender book tries to teach all about PIX
David Chapman and Andy Fox's `Cisco Secure PIX Firewalls' book covers PIX IOS through 6.0. The book is of value if one is working on a PIX IOS that still utilizes `conduit' commands rather than access-control lists. The book is slender and mostly displays configurations that can be found on the Cisco website. What I did like was `The Six Basic Commands for Cisco Pix Firewall Configuation' on page 56. Over the next several pages, the authors pound into your head the value of these 6 commands (nameif, interface, ip address, NAT, global and route).

I give this book 3 pings out of 5:
!!..!

Summary: Fair
This book must have been written before access-lists were implemented into PIX OS because it does not cover that. It covers conduits, which Cisco has replaced with access-lists. Also, the book contains a lot of command syntax and it's my impression that I could have got the same information by going through the PIX documentation on Cisco's site. This may have been a good book a while ago but I don't really recommend it at this point because it's outdated. I also find myself refering to it sometimes and always go back to online documentation to find what I need.

Summary: The Power of the PIX
The Editors of this book have done a fairly good job at explaining what "powers" the PIX Firewall possesses. This book is a great starting point for those of us who are learning the PIX and have very little experience with it. However, there are some portions of this book where experience will allow you to more thoroughly understand the concepts. The beginning of this book explains the types of PIX hardware that are available and best suited to a company's needs. It also breaks down the PIX models to the component level, giving you an understanding of the hardware configuration.

The first few chapters give a very good understanding of how to configure a PIX firewall from scratch. You would be able to get a PIX up and running in a matter of minutes, albeit it would not be as secure as it could be. Of course a company's security needs will dictate how the PIX will be implemented. Descriptions of commands and their uses are given and explained, but there are some sections of this book that requires some experience with the PIX for it to make sense. The section on password recovery is a very important one as people come in and out of tech positions all the time and passwords are always changed in the process. However, to the inexperienced reader, how would one know what software version you are running if you cannot get into the firewall? The authors do not explain how you would find out this information. If we are trying to do a password recovery, we more than likely are not able to get into the PIX to find out what software version we are running to begin with. Like I stated earlier, this may be an answer of experience. It may boot up and show the software version. For those of us who do not have access to a PIX or the relevant experience, it would be helpful for the authors to delve deeper and give us an explanation.

After getting through the first few chapters of basic commands on the PIX, it moves into the heavy duty security and authorization features of the PIX. Now we're getting into the nitty gritty of the firewall. Understanding of security features are explained in detail. AAA, VPN, and IPSec are emphasized in the latter chapters of the book. Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting is used to determine who a person is that is accessing the network. This security feature keeps out people who should not have access to your network. The VPN functionality of the PIX keeps you from having to purchase extra hardware or software. IPSec is explained and heavily used in the encryption of pertinent data that passes through the firewall. The book also explains the many different algorithms of encryption available for use with IPSec.

Now you may be thinking, "So what if my PIX were to fail"? The book explains the failover aspects of the PIX very well. Of course, you would have to be lucky enough to have two PIX firewalls on hand. I had no problems understanding the process of what happens when/if a component were to fail. The self-troubleshooting aspects of the PIX prior to failover are discussed as well. Any beginner reading this book would have a thorough understanding of how to setup a redundant firewall.

All in all, this book was well written and informative. It is easy enough for a beginner to pick up and understand. The notes in the book are great for possible scenarios that may arise in implementation. The examples are easy to follow, but the addition of a PIX simulation software would have made the steps more enjoyable. This book is a good starting point for those of you who are interested in Network Security and are pursuing a certification path in that direction. On a scale of 1-5, I give this book a 4. It was easy to read and to understand. I would definitely read titles from these authors again.

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