"This book is invaluable to anyone facing the challenges of security in a business environment." --Paul D. Robertson, Moderator of Firewall-Wizards and Director of Risk Assessment, TruSecure Corporation

A Note From Series Editor: "I first got to know Wesley Noonan through a common newsgroup. His insightful and technical comments stuck with me, and I finally met him at a conference several years later. Wes has the gift to present network security in a concise, well-reasoned way--easy for everyone to understand regardless of their security or networking knowledge. His writing style reflects his congenial presentation manner and his knowledge, and his eagerness to share his expertise is exceptional. Wes's guide to hardening your network infrastructure provides the step-by-step how-to approach that you need to build, deploy, and maintain a security defense. I've read every word; you will not be disappointed." --Roberta Bragg

Features a four-part hardening methodology:

• Do This Now!--Checklist of immediate steps to take to lockdown your system from further attack
• Take It From The Top--Systematic approach to hardening your perimeter and internal network infrastructure, focusing on firewalls, IDS/IPS, network content filtering, wireless LAN connections, routers, and switches
• Once Is Never Enough!--Ongoing monitoring and assessment plan to keep your network secure, including patch management and auditing
• How to Succeed at Hardening Your Network Infrastructure--Strategies for getting budget approval, management buy-in, and employee cooperation for your security program

About the author: Wesley J. Noonan, MCSE, CCNA, CCDA, NNCSS, Security+, is a Senior Network Consultant for Collective Technologies, LLC, a company specializing in storage, server and network design, architecture, implementation, and security. Series Editor: Roberta Bragg, CISSP, MCSE: Security, Security+, is the Security Advisor columnist for MCP magazine and a Security Expert for searchWin2000.com. She also writes for the Security Watch newsletter and is the author of several computer books.