Personal Firewalls for Administrators and Remote Users

Personal Firewalls for Administrators and Remote Users
by Lisa Yeo

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About Book

Book Description

While corporate system administrators spend lots of time thinking about enterprise firewall systems for their in-house employees, a vulnerability that is often overlooked is the remote employee's unprotected computer system, the unprotected computers of mobile laptop users (employees on the road) and all those unprotected but networked handheld devices. At the same time, many home computer users who have always relied on high speed Internet access don't realize that without a personal firewall, they too are quite vulnerable to intrusion and attacks. This book is designed to explain how personal firewalls work and how to determine which type of firewall works best in a given situation. Yeo starts with an intro to security basics -basic data protection measures (passwords, virus software, encryption, and firewalls) and reviews common vulnerabilities and issues with the always-on Internet. Yeo then explains protection methods used by firewalls in general - proxy server firewalls, packet filters, signature-based firewalls and stateful inspection-based firewalls while examining strengths and weaknesses of each type. She then explains how each type of protection method is implemented in a "personal" firewall, the various products including Black Ice Defender, Zone Alarm, Linux iptables that use a given firewall method, and the pros and cons of relying on this method in a personal firewall. An entire chapter is devoted to maintenance of personal firewalls.

From the Back Cover

Personal firewalls explainedâ€”for remote corporate and home users.

In today's work environment, increasing numbers of mobile employees are using PCs, laptops, and handheld devices to connect to corporate servers. That's great for productivity, but it can also pose a security nightmare. Many of these remote systems are at best minimally protected against hackers and other intruders, which means they can provide an easy avenue into the network. An effectiveâ€”and cost effectiveâ€”way to address this liability is through the use of personal firewalls.

In Personal Firewalls for Administrators and Remote Users, security professional Lisa Yeo presents this vital security technology in a format that system administrators and home users alike can use to zero in on exactly what they need to know to secure their computers against outside intruders. In her clear and engaging style, Yeo explains everything from the basics of home computer security and networking to advanced topics such as interpreting log files and troubleshooting, configuring, and maintaining personal firewalls. Along the way, you'll learn how to choose a personal firewall from the products available today, how to deploy personal firewalls in home and corporate environments, and more. This book describes

Personal firewalls completelyâ€”from the basics to advanced topics, for users and administrators
Comparisons of firewallsâ€”select the one that works best for your network situation and operating system
Configuration, maintenance, and troubleshootingâ€”all you need to set up and run personal firewalls for remote and home users

This book is appropriate for system administrators; mobile corporate employees using PCs, laptops, and handhelds; as well as savvy home computer users. Coverage includes widely available software packages running on systems including Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.

About the Author

LISA YEO is a systems analyst with the Legislative Assembly Office in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her start in security came in 1997 when she was made responsible for managing a corporate firewall. Since that time, she has acquired the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Security Essentials and Windows certifications. Lisa currently sits on the GIAC Windows (GCWN) Board.

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