Sans Giac Certification: Security Essentials Toolkit (Gsec)

by Eric Cole, John M. Millican, Matthew Newfield

This book is the first in the series of SANS Press books that cover SANS' popular Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Certification program. SANS GIAC Certification: Security Essentials Toolkit (GSEC) prepares readers for the GIAC Security Essentials Certification (GSEC), the most popular among several GIAC certifications. This book is the only book in the market that shows security engineers how to configure, deploy, and troubleshoot...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789727749
• ISBN13: 9780789727749
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Pearson It Certification
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 11.0" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

An excellent supplemental text for networking if you are on a tight budget and in a hurry

Several years ago, I was tasked with teaching a two-course networking sequence on very short notice. I was also not given a great deal of assistance in terms of money for new equipment or software, so any software tools would have to be freeware. Fortunately, I had a copy of this book, which contains a series of 56 exercises in computer network security. Most rely on tools that are either free or available free for a trial period. Furthermore, many of the exercises require significant knowledge of networking principles, so I was able to create laboratory exercises that tested networking knowledge although they were focused on security. I did not use this book as a text, it pointed me towards the appropriate tools and their location, which I downloaded and then worked through to write my own lab exercises. This allowed me to overcome the inexperience that I had concerning some of the principles needed to use and understand the tools. However, this book certainly could have been used as a text, although the proper role would be to use it as a supplemental text rather than a primary one.

Well . . . it Really Works !!

Tired and disappointed for buying useless 'certification books' ?Good News, this one is really useful!I bought it to use as a guide to create Security Labs for my students (local university). To be honest, I had some doubts (too much pure-hype experiences), but when browsed the book for the first time, I was quite impressed by the diversity and thorough treatment of several security tools and scenarios.Please note that ours, are high level courses, a lot harder than CISSP regular ones. Despite of this, I could assemble several complex Labs, just merging diverse experiences suggested (an explained) in the book.Whichever your goal, this book will really help you to learn about Network Security, leading you ('hands on') through real world (and no-nonsense) experiences.Buy it, you won't be disappointed !

Excellent hands-on coverage

This is *the* authoritative text for those who are new to security or wish to enhance their existing security knowledge. The hands-on, exercise driven approach is extremely effective at teaching the material. I have seen John Millican speak at SANS and have always been impressed with his ability to dive deep into security issues while explaining it simply and elegantly. This book is particularly helpful because of the broad range of tools it covers, and the multi-OS perspective that it takes on the matter.A must-have for those who are serious about learning security.

Knowledge is Power - Definitive skills in the security arena

What do you say when you're given the answers to all those questions you've been trying to answer for so long....?The Security Essentials Handbook may be the first definitive guide that allows that feeling to be realised.Where most security books cover concepts or ideas (tools or hacks), this one finally breaks the barrier between the text and hands on experience. Written as an addition to the SANS Security Essentials course and GSEC certification, it allows the reader to learn, experience and understand the logic, tools and methods involved in IT security from both sides of the fence - thus creating a better security professional. Covering points of view from Windows, Linux and Unix camps it gives a thorough grounding to the most commonly used tools in todays security defense and breaches. Taking the reader through a concise and methodical approach it teaches and explains the theory, configuration and use of each tool, how to use it to find vunerabilities in your network and defend your network from it's use. It then goes further to explain the use of firewalls, security policies, network security and design, secure comunication (encryption) and a breakdown of both Windows and Unix system security with the aim of creating a Hardened (secure) system.Written by Eric Cole, Matthew Newfield and John M. Millican, all long time security experts and either certified with or involved in the creation of the certification/courses that SANS offer you could have no better guides through the journey this book takes you on. A thing not to miss is the fact that it's SANS certified which adds credit to it's release, invaluable for the hands on skills needed to aim for the GSEC certification.As a network/security professional I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the what's & hows of network/IT security. I'd recommend it just as much to any security team or professional as an "on the desk" reference for every day use. An invaluable tool, reference and teacher for those willing to delve deep and take the time to read (and play....).

Great Step by Step Guide

This is a great book to dive into if you are new to security or interested in learning more about Infomation security tools. It is the only book that I have come across that provides hands on step by step instructions. This book goes into a good amount of detail on how to configure and use 80% or more of the tools available in the free world. The information is also presented in a very responsible manner giving the reader an understanding of any potential risks associated with using some of these tools and what the user should do prior to usage. It's a must have if you are interested in learning how to setup and use tools such as snort, nmap, nessus, ethereal, and many more.