Security+ Guide to Networking Security Fundamentals, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Much better than the 1st edition
Review: The 2nd edition of this book is a dramatic improvement over the 1st edition. This edition is written by a new author who appears to have much more experience in the field and has a better grasp of the certification objectives. It includes many important topics that are on the Security+ exam, but not covered in the 1st edition. His explanations are much better, his examples and analogies are well thought out. This is a good book for the classroom, and an OK book for the security novice who just wants to learn on his/her own. Some of the diagrams need improvement- they may confuse the reader and could be simplified. I think it could be organized a little better, but that may just be my personal taste. I was pleased to find very few errors, unlike the first edition, which I lost confidence in after the first couple of chapters.

The lab manual that goes with this book is still disappointing. There are only about 3-4 labs in the lab manual that are useful, the rest is just busywork. Not worth the money. This would be a much better series if the few useful lab exercises were added to the textbook, and the separate lab manual was dropped.