Although I have not made it through cover to cover, I'm using the book a lot. It's definately a "Keeper".


Secure a copy for yourself!   June 18, 2001
An excellent survey of the current state of network security, ideal for both the novice and professional. All important aspects of security are covered, from the common vulnerabilities of protocols such as UDP and TCP, to advanced topics like firewall configuration and DNS. Written in plain language, even the neophyte network engineer will grasp key concepts quickly, while more experienced administrators and power-users will find practical solutions for prevention of even the most high-level attacks. All operating systems are covered, from Windows 2000 to various flavors of Unix/Linux. A must-own title for anyone concerned about security in today's global information economy.


Excellent Resource   March 6, 2001
Enterprise Internetworking And Security is an extremely well written and surprisingly easy to follow guide that will prove to be a benefit to both professional networking engineers and those just curious about "how such stuff works". Of course, as a casual cover to cover read only Star Trek's Mr. Spock would give it a fully blown two thumbs up. Having read some of Cassidy's other Internet books, I was somewhat disappointed not to find a few more occasional jokes or colorful analogies (though he does manage to sneak in few - like when he compares the writing of the book to "holding down a 30 foot squid with barbecue tongs"). In my opinion, the drier the subject matter, the more such devices make the difference between a good technical guide and a truly great one. However, Enterprise Internetworking And Security is informative, up to date and very well structured so that it can read non-sequentially (which makes it an excellent reference guide). Chapters 7, 8 and 10 are particularly informative, and cover most of what a network engineer concerned with security issues should consider from design to implementation. The beginning chapters are a bit more fundamental than one might expect from a book intended for advanced to expert users, and in all likelihood such users will find these chapters remedial. Other than this minor disparity, it contains a great deal of useful information and altogether, I would recommend the book as a smart addition to any network engineer's reference library.


Browse at the bookstore, but do not buy.   January 4, 2001
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

I am a network security engineer who hoped to find a concise volume on networking and security, suitable for review by my colleagues and students. I was disappointed. The book is haphazard, poorly edited, and written at less than a professional level. While the chapter on choosing an ISP is helpful, it can't carry the whole volume. I dislike writing 2-star reviews, but my overall goal is to give straight advice to Amazon.com customers and technical security professionals.

First, the authors and their editors should realize "thus," "therefore," and "rather" are not conjunctions, and "however" as used in the text isn't a conjunction either. The frequent joining of sentences by these adverbs annoyed me. I expected more from the co-author with a degree in English literature. Second, attempts to sound cute fall flat. Page 21 says "The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is one of the most popular protocols in the TCP/IP stack. But you don't need us to tell you that." Indeed, why bother writing it in a "Concise Guide"? Third, the book lacked enough diagrams to illustrated key points, and some figures weren't clear. Where in figure 2.10 are we told that "8 | 7 | 6 etc..." mean bits?

Beyond syntax and style, I found technical errors. In chapter 3 the authors repeatedly misname a SYN flood as a "TCP SYN scan." They mislabel their three-way handshake figure, and don't understand the true victim of the DoS in figure 3.2. On page 71 they say "The intruder gains access to your system usually by installing a series of Trojan-horse programs collectively known as a root kit... The Trojan programs allow normally untraceable access, so there is not as much sanitizing that the intruder must do to cover his tracks." This is false or at least muddled. A root kit is known in the industry as a set of post-compromise tools used to clean logs, Trojanize binaries, and open alternate back doors. A root kit is not traditionally used to gain initial access, although "one-stop-shopping" tools might include cradle-to-grave exploitation.

On the positive side, the chapter on choosing an ISP was informative. I enjoyed seeing various WAN technologies discussed together, too. Unfortunately, this could not compensate for the confused and hurried material found elsewhere. I recommending avoiding this book until stronger literary and technical editors publish a second edition.


networking expert   December 25, 2000
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

It is obvious that this book was written by a pro. As a veteran networking person I have to say that this book cleared some issues and certainly helped implement and enhance the network at my company, thanks.