"firewalls" misleading ... content is general internet security

The title "Firewalls for dummies" is misleading. No, it does not talk to the layperson, or even someone trying to setup a home firewall. Rather, it targets manager-types at companies that have basic tcp/ip experience. The first 150 pages or so doesn't even have any solid examples of allow/deny rules. There is another book called "internet security for dummies". This should have probably been that book, because the depth it goes into general security issues like antivirus, file attachements, mail security is much more general than firewalls. Plus I think I see a few errors in the book and am unable to locate an errata for it online. I wrote to the FirewallsForDummies[at]hotmail.com address thats mentioned in the book to ask the authors for errata info, and it bounced back as mailbox not available.

Author: Fernando Ortiz


Contains a publishing error

I would rate the book higher if the book were complete. The 2nd edition text is missing content from chapters 10 and 13; and chapters 11 and 12 are entirely missing. The missing text would be between pages 177 and 224. The publisher has mistakenly included the text from another Dummies title. A reader review from June 2008 appears to indicate no problems before this date. I purchased my text in September 2008. I have notified the publisher of the problem and done an internet search to determine if others have reported this problem. There is a url-link with the correct text but will not publish the link here because it may be a pirated copy online. Do your own search to find the corrections. I hope the publisher will provide the corrections on-line using the Dummies.com website.

Author: JCC3RDT


A decent introduction.

I picked this up for a curiosity check for some people that are getting interested in the security world.

As with the Dummies line, this book is meant as an introduction to the concept of a firewall.

If you ever asked "What's a firewall" then this book is for you. If you are looking for specific configurations or what to do when you are under attack, you will not like this book.

I gave it high marks because it discusses many concepts such as caching, stateful inspection, load balancing, protocols, etc. However, it does not go heavily into the technical which could make a non-IT person go comatose.

There are some discussion of attacks such as Denial of Service, Trojans, etc. but they are rather basic in nature. Again not a book for the advanced.

There is a decent discussion on policies and a reasonable discussion on NAT, that should give the inexperienced a good idea of these areas.

There are some discussions on deployment which the book might have been trying to reach the corporate environment. However, the value maybe only for managers who would not be involved with the firewall or they simply could have been left out. The book mainly feels for the small networks and the home user and probably would not care about three pronged firewalls.

The chapter on Linux firewalls talking about iptables and ipchains felt like it was an addon due to the rise of Linux. Having said that; it still was a decent introduction. It just felt out of place.

The chapters on Zonealarm, BlackIce, Norton, ISA, and Checkpoint are useful to a degree. They do discuss the products and they go into setup. However, you will probably read the information parts but probably will end up skipping the configuration sections.

The last two chapters are useful as they give you websites for 10 tools(though a couple have changed) and sites to find information about Firewalls and security groups.

Overall, it's a decent book for the beginner. Avoidable for the professional.


Author: Mathew A. Shember


Good start for industry basics.

I would have titled this "And if you want to know about Space Exploration join the United Federation of Planets". The idea of any book is to impart information to the reader and this is what this book does. I certainly would not give this book first time out to Grandma and expect her to understand it but some reviewers really do believe that to read a Dummies Book you have to be a "Dummy" some people actually have an IQ above 100 and a jopb that does not involve serving food. For people with an interest, managers and technicals just starting out its a good cheap and informative read. 5 stars.

Author: Mr KC HUTCHINSON


Firewalls for Dummies

This is one of the poorest "For Dummies" books I have ever read (and I have several). The information, while technically accurate, is often times obtuse and full of geek speek, meaning you don't know what the author is talking about. It is also what we call CIPO (clear if previously understood).

The best chapter in the book, if there is one, talks about configuring Black Ice (my "personal" firewall of choice) and Zone Alarm. But I already knew how to do that, as Black Ice is very easy to install and set up.

If you are a commercial fire wall specialist, most of this material will be redundant to you. And if you are just a home user, then you will not understand much of it, as it is geared towards commercial fire wall installations, and all the heavy jargon that goes with that.

Fire wall technology, like virus technolgy, can only be learned on the job with those company experts like Black Ice or Norton. They are just not going to make this stuff easy for anyone, and no book learning is going to give you much of a clue here, including this book.

Sorry, that's just the way it is. You want to learn all about fire walls? Then go to work for Zone Alarm or Black Ice.

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