Rating: 
Summary: You Can Judge this book by its title!
Review: Having ran an ISP for four years, I am utterly fascinated with this book! The author understands the security issues, conveys thems clearly and shows real world results for people to implement Intrusion Detection Services. This book can be used by those with moderate knowledge of Linux. the author has included Red Hat, SuSe and other flavors of linux as example. the book holds web addresses for additonal help. The author has given step by step instructions for the implenetation of services. It is an absolute MUST for any Sys Admin or Network Admin - hands down.
Rating:
Summary: Best Security book I ever read
Review: Having read alot of books on computer security in 7 years in the unix profession. I have seen some really bad books. Some books had good chapters. Some totally forgot a whole compnent of security. Bob has covered it all. He covers the whole nine yards and then some. This book is up their with hacking exposed as a must in every administrators library.PS. One gripe. Has the Kerberos logo variation on the cover. But no talk of kerberos.
Rating: 
Summary: An advanced guide to Linux security which may overwhelm some
Review: I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "Real World Linux Security" (RWLS) to learn more about best practices for securing Linux servers. Author Bob Toxen has clearly "been around the block," and in some cases he even helped "build" it. Not everyone had the fortune to study at Berkeley with the giants of UNIX! While parts of RWLS are too advanced for some (I was overwhelmed at times), it deserves to be read by serious security practioners. Anyone administering Linux systems will learn at least one security improvement from RWLS. For example, I applied Bob's suggestion to prevent X from listening on the 6000-series TCP ports. Youngsters will learn why password files incorporate a "salt" and how the "sticky bit" prevents file deletion under certain conditions. Graybeards may enjoy the tech history, like the origin of the word "spam" for unsolicited commercial email. RWLS' strongest feature is Bob's commitment to defending his security suggestions. He doesn't just provide instructions. He states the problem, its origin, how to resolve it, other options, and finally defends his solution. One might disagree with his conclusions but appreciate his reasoning. Bob can make these arguments because he's comfortable discussing Linux at the user interface level (GUI or command line), at the network level (protocols, sockets, ports) and at the operating system and programming levels (system calls, C programming, etc.) This reminded me of Radia Perlman's "Interconnections" networking book, where she explains protocols she invented, such as the spanning tree algorithm. RWLS is not perfect. The "one way credit card data path" proposal needs a diagram. Page 500's says a "." in TCPDump means no flags are set, when really "." means neither the SYN, FIN, RST nor PSH flags are set. ("." is frequently seen in TCPDump with the ACK flag, for instance.) On page 232, I think Bob meant to mention ARP, not RARP. These are minor errors overshadowed by RWLS' depth of knowledge. Other books can claim to offer "practical" security advice, but I found RWLS to be the first purely defensive-minded book which required one eye on the text and the other on my laptop. Reading and typing, I added a few more weapons to my defensive arsenal by trying commands and altering system settings. I plan to reread advanced sections after I learn more about shell scripting and C programming. If you feel you've got nothing more to learn from security books, give Bob Toxen's work a shot. If you're just beginning in the field, be prepared to "grow into" RWLS.
Rating:
Summary: Great for new Linux Users
Review: I am fairly new to the Linux/Unix world.
I have found the book to be well written and easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book.
Review: I feel very fortunate to have served as one of the technical reviewers for this book (so I'm a bit biased ;-)). I'm typically too busy to read even a third of the books that don my shelves, but reviewing Bob's book forced me to read it practically cover-to-cover. The book is perfect for almost anyone wishing to gain insight into how to make their network or home machine more secure. It will bring you up to speed quickly on what you need to know *now* to prevent crackers from compromising your system. Bob also provides a cd full of software including his Cracker Trap and Adaptive Firewall. That alone is worth the cost of the book. However, Bob goes far beyond a simple how-to, teaching best security practices and his "Rings of Security" approach to keeping your information safe. The depth of knowledge contained within will appeal to security administrators across the enterprise. The book is by far the most useful security book on my shelf, and I continue to go back to it for reference. In addition, his software (included on the cd) powers my home firewall and has done an admirable job. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Full of practical knowledge
Review: I feel very fortunate to have served as one of the technical reviewers for this book (so I'm a bit biased ;-)). I'm typically too busy to read even a third of the books that don my shelves, but reviewing Bob's book forced me to read it practically cover-to-cover. The book is perfect for almost anyone wishing to gain insight into how to make their network or home machine more secure. It will bring you up to speed quickly on what you need to know *now* to prevent crackers from compromising your system. Bob also provides a cd full of software including his Cracker Trap and Adaptive Firewall. That alone is worth the cost of the book. However, Bob goes far beyond a simple how-to, teaching best security practices and his "Rings of Security" approach to keeping your information safe. The depth of knowledge contained within will appeal to security administrators across the enterprise. The book is by far the most useful security book on my shelf, and I continue to go back to it for reference. In addition, his software (included on the cd) powers my home firewall and has done an admirable job. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as advertized
Review: I got this book after the glamerous slashdot review. I was saddened to see that it was not as complete as the first edition of hacking linux exposed which I got in 2001. I would have given it two stars based on the book, but the cd does have a lot of tools on it, which bumped it up to 3 stars. But you're still better off with hacking linux exposed. I can only imagine that the 2nd edition of hacking is better than the first, though I don't have it yet.
Rating:
Summary: The best Linux Security book ever!
Review: I have been a linux system administrator for numerous years, and Bob Toxen's book is my Bible. The scope of the book is incredible. Every aspect of Security and the Linux OS is delt with in this book. The examples are detailed and extensive. Every Linux Systems Administrator must have a copy of this book. Real World Linux Security explains the hows and whys of hacking and cracking and how to stop intrusions. I can't thank Bob Toxen enough for writting this book!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but short on organization
Review: I have both editions of Bob's book. I've been working with Linux since 1995, system administration/networked systems for over 12 years. I must say, this is the most comprehensive book on system/network protection of any I've seen. It covers every subject found in other books I've purchased and then some. It is an excellent read from cover to cover as well as a reference document to keep at hand. Much of the book is applicable to network/system security regardless of the systems you're using. You'll find yourself wondering "wow, that's common sense, why didn't I think of that?" But, it is also full of jewels of more esoteric approaches to protecting systems that will continue to foil the knowledgeable cracker. Focus on the "rings of security," the concept is excellent. This is the book to have, to read cover to cover and keep at your side as it is the ultimate reference document for network/system security.
Rating:
Summary: It has it all when it comes to Linux security
Review: I have both editions of Bob's book. I've been working with Linux since 1995, system administration/networked systems for over 12 years. I must say, this is the most comprehensive book on system/network protection of any I've seen. It covers every subject found in other books I've purchased and then some. It is an excellent read from cover to cover as well as a reference document to keep at hand. Much of the book is applicable to network/system security regardless of the systems you're using. You'll find yourself wondering "wow, that's common sense, why didn't I think of that?" But, it is also full of jewels of more esoteric approaches to protecting systems that will continue to foil the knowledgeable cracker. Focus on the "rings of security," the concept is excellent. This is the book to have, to read cover to cover and keep at your side as it is the ultimate reference document for network/system security.
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