Personal firewalls explained—for remote corporate and home users.

In today's work environment, increasing numbers of mobile employees are using PCs, laptops, and handheld devices to connect to corporate servers. That's great for productivity, but it can also pose a security nightmare. Many of these remote systems are at best minimally protected against hackers and other intruders, which means they can provide an easy avenue into the network. An effective—and cost effective—way to address this liability is through the use of personal firewalls.

In Personal Firewalls for Administrators and Remote Users, security professional Lisa Yeo presents this vital security technology in a format that system administrators and home users alike can use to zero in on exactly what they need to know to secure their computers against outside intruders. In her clear and engaging style, Yeo explains everything from the basics of home computer security and networking to advanced topics such as interpreting log files and troubleshooting, configuring, and maintaining personal firewalls. Along the way, you'll learn how to choose a personal firewall from the products available today, how to deploy personal firewalls in home and corporate environments, and more. This book describes:

Personal firewalls completely—from the basics to advanced topics, for users and administrators

Comparisons of firewalls—select the one that works best for your network situation and operating system

Configuration, maintenance, and troubleshooting—all you need to set up and run personal firewalls for remote and home users

This book is appropriate for system administrators; mobile corporate employees using PCs, laptops, and handhelds; as well as savvy home computer users. Coverage includes widely available software packages running on systems including Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.