With the increasingly widespread use of the Internet by all, the security of the data accessible by it is becoming of paramount importance. As part of the Data Protection Act, data owners must ensure that personal data held is inaccessible to those not permitted to see it. It is in this context that such a book comes into its own.

Most companies with access to the Internet have a firewall between them and the Internet. However, how is this configured? Can hackers penetrate it? This book will not help (directly) the hackers, with no loopholes actually being described, instead dealing with the security models you can apply to ensure hackers do not have access. It takes the reader gently but firmly through the basics that they ought to have in place even before connecting a computer to the Internet, or even local network. Key issues like regular monitoring of the access users have, and whether anyone is trying to step outside of this keep recurring. It keeps emphasising that detection tools on their own are not enough--you need to monitor it by hand too.

For those involved in defining security policy and user access, this book is certainly worth reading. If you just want a general overview of the topic, you might find this a little too heavy a tome.