Firewalls -2nd edition

About This Book



We try to provide you with a book that can act as a reference guide for fire-walls. We don’t expect you to read the book from cover to cover but to look at specific topics that meet your needs. Twenty chapters and an appendix cover all topics of firewalls and their implementation. Just turn to the chapter that catches your attention and start reading. Each chapter has been designed so that you can read it on its own.

How to Use This Book

This book is easy to drive, and doesn’t require a manual. Simply turn to the Table of Contents, find a topic that interests you, and go to that chapter.

If you’re looking for configuration details for specific firewalls, jump to Part IV where we provide detailed steps on how to install and configure popular fire-wall products used today. If you’re just looking for tips on how to configure a firewall for specific protocols, Parts II and III look at simple and advanced pro-tocol rules in standalone and Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) configurations.

How This Book Is Organized

Inside this book, you will find the chapters divided into five parts. Each part addresses a specific issue involved in designing and implementing firewall solutions. The book is modular enough that you aren’t forced to read each chapter in order. Feel free to find the part that catches your interest, and dig in from there!

Part I: Introducing Firewall Basics

You have to start somewhere! The chapters in this part help you to identify the threats and risks to your network when it’s connected to the Internet and how firewalls help mitigate those risks. If you’ve read articles about the latest hacking attempts, you may wonder how those attacks work and why your network may be vulnerable. This part helps you to understand how those attacks take place and what measures you can take to protect your network from the attack.
In addition to looking at various attacks, this part also goes over the basics of the TCP/IP suite so that you can get a grasp on the rules implemented by today’s firewalls.

Part II: Establishing Rules

So, you’re sitting at your desk, minding your own business, and your boss walks in. The boss sees your copy of Firewalls For Dummies lying on your desk and says, “Can you help the network geek with the firewall?” This is the part for you! Part II helps you design firewall rules to protect networks and home offices.

Not only does this part show you how to configure firewall rules, it also describes the process of determining what protocols to allow in and out of your network. If you don’t have guidelines for securing your network, coming up with a configuration for your firewall is almost impossible!

Part III: Designing Network Configurations

Put on your helmets for a trip to the world of Demilitarized Zones (the com-puter kind, not the combat kind). Part III puts it all together by showing you common firewall configurations that are used to protect a network.

This part looks at firewall configurations that use one or more firewalls to protect both your private network and resources that you expose to the Internet.
Part IV: Deploying Solutions Using Firewall Products

After reading this book, you will know how to configure some of today’s popular firewalls to protect your network. This part describes the steps required to secure Microsoft Windows and Linux desktops, gives you the dirt on common intrusion detection systems, and studies the configuration of two popular firewalls: Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server and Check Point FireWall-1.

Part IV closes with a useful discussion on how to choose a firewall. Think of it as a buying a new car. When you buy a new car, you come up with a list of fea-tures that you want in your car, such as a CD player or power windows. This chapter covers the features that you may want to have in the firewall you select.
Part V: The Part of Tens

No For Dummies book would be complete without the Part of Tens. We include tips on security configuration, tools you may want to acquire, and Internet sites that can keep you up-to-date with security issues.

In addition to the Part of Tens, the Appendix provides a comprehensive list-ing of IP Protocol numbers, ICMP type numbers, and a TCP/UDP port listing that you can use to aid your firewall configuration.



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