Product: 0596006438

O’Reilly’s Hacks series have been hit or miss; mostly hits, and this second edition is no exception. Lockhart and friends bring together a set of tips and tricks in the classic O’Reilly form, and cover a scattershot of topics that people like to know.

There’s over 100 hacks here, and I can’t possibly cover them all. I’ll pick and choose topics to illustrate why I think this book is a success. As other reviewers have noted, this book focuses on Linux and BSD security, but it does cover Windows in a decent amount. This probably reflects the community’s choice of OSes (but does under represent some OS X specifics), and the availability of tools and techniques.

Chapter 1, covering 20-some hacks, covers UNIX host-level security. A lot of it is stuff you’ve seen before, but some of it is stuff that’s hard to find (ie Systrace setups, sandboxing services), or so disparate that it’s nice to have it all in one place. Chapter 2 covers over a dozen hacks for Windows that are similar, securing your Windows host.

The chapters on privacy (3), encrypting services (5), and tunneling (Chapter 10) are pretty good. They’re tight, well written, and clear enough that an intermediate network or system administrator could do well. I liked that chapter 4 covered firewalling for PF on BSD, Linux’s Netfilter, and the Windows firewall all similarly. The hacks on VPNs using various tools are great, they’re clear in an amazingly short space.

Network and wireless security get a fair shake, and you can even learn how to scan the network for viruses, detect ARP attacks, deploy a captive portal, and assess your systems for vulnerabilities. Again, a nice spread of topics, most of them well covered in a short space.

NIDS topics get their own chapter, and things like Snort setup, maintenance, and even the basics of rule writing get covered. You’ll even get an intro to Honeyd for your time.

I would have liked to have seen Chapter 12 on recovery and response get a lot more time and effort, I think it’s sorely needed. Perhaps if everyone writes a hack for this chapter they’ll add them to the third edition.

All in all a good book for a skilled, intermediate level system and network administrator. This book carries on the hacks series with style and skill, and delivers almost everything in a small package.
Rating: 4
0596006438
Count: 6