Managing Security with Snort and IDS Tools

by Kerry Cox, Christopher Gerg

Intrusion detection is not for the faint at heart. But, if you are a network administrator chances are you're under increasing pressure to ensure that mission-critical systems are safe--in fact impenetrable--from malicious code, buffer overflows, stealth port scans, SMB probes, OS fingerprinting attempts, CGI attacks, and other network intruders. Designing a reliable way to detect intruders before they get in is a vital but daunting challenge. Because of this, a plethora of complex, sophisticated, and pricy software solutions are now available. In terms of raw power and features, SNORT, the most commonly used Open Source Intrusion Detection System, (IDS) has begun to eclipse many expensive proprietary IDSes. In terms of documentation or ease of use, however, SNORT can seem overwhelming. Which output plugin to use? How do you to email alerts to yourself? Most importantly, how do you sort through the immense amount of information Snort makes available to you? Many intrusion detection books are long on theory but short on specifics and practical examples. Not Managing Security with Snort and IDS Tools . This new book is a thorough, exceptionally practical guide to managing network security using Snort 2.1 (the latest release) and dozens of other high-quality open source other open source intrusion detection programs. Managing Security with Snort and IDS Tools covers reliable methods for detecting network intruders, from using simple packet sniffers to more sophisticated IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) applications and the GUI interfaces for managing them. A comprehensive but concise guide for monitoring illegal entry attempts, this invaluable new book explains how to shut down and secure workstations, servers, firewalls, routers, sensors and other network devices. Step-by-step instructions are provided to quickly get up and running with Snort. Each chapter includes links for the programs discussed, and additional links at the end of the book give administrators access to numerous web sites for additional information and instructional material that will satisfy even the most serious security enthusiasts. Managing Security with Snort and IDS Tools maps out a proactive--and effective--approach to keeping your systems safe from attack.

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Kerry Cox received his Ph.D. in German Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was the System Administrator and Network Engineer for KSL Radio and Television for nearly 5 years. He worked on the NBC 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and provided network backup to national programming. Since then he has worked as a Linux engineer for familysearch.org, as a security consultant for Fidelity Investments, and as IT Director for Sorenson Media. He also worked as CIO for Mountain Medical and as IT Operations Manager for WJ Bradley. He recently taught computer courses at Neumont University. He is currently a Curriculum Developer for Juniper Networks. He has published several technical manuals and is currently working on a novel of historical fiction. He has a lovely wife, Karen, to whom he has been married for over 30 years. Kerry and Karen are proud parents of three sons and a daughter.