Hardening Cisco Routers

The great thing about this book is that you can approach it in either of two ways. If you just want to clamp down on your routers' security weaknesses as soon as possible, you can begin with the checklists at the end of each chapter (each of which focuses on a particular area, like SMTP) or the big one in an appendix, which is comprehensive. These checklists include both "how" and "why" information, as exemplified by "Disable ICMP broadcasts with the no ip directed-broadcast command." If you want more information on the big picture, or want to prepare for a specific kind of attack, read the individual chapters for detailed advice on how to set IOS to behave as you want. --David Wall

Topics covered: Internetwork Operating System (IOS) commands you can use to protect Cisco Systems routers from a variety of attacks. Specialized sections deal with security assessment, auditing, access control, privileges, optional services, and the legal importance of your login banners' contents.

Product Description
As a network administrator, auditor or architect, you know the importance of securing your network and finding security solutions you can implement quickly. This succinct book departs from other security literature by focusing exclusively on ways to secure Cisco routers, rather than the entire network. The rational is simple: If the router protecting a network is exposed to hackers, then so is the network behind it. Hardening Cisco Routers is a reference for protecting the protectors. Included are the following topics:The importance of router security and where routers fit into an overall security planDifferent router configurations for various versions of Cisco?s IOSStandard ways to access a Cisco router and the security implications of eachPassword and privilege levels in Cisco routersAuthentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) controlRouter warning banner use (as recommended by the FBI)Unnecessary protocols and services commonly run on Cisco routersSNMP securityAnti-spoofingProtocol security for RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, NTP, and BGPLogging violationsIncident responsePhysical securityWritten by Thomas Akin, an experienced Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Cisco Academic Instructor (CCAI), the book is well organized, emphasizing practicality and a hands-on approach. At the end of each chapter, Akin includes a Checklist that summarizes the hardening techniques discussed in the chapter. The Checklists help you double-check the configurations you have been instructed to make, and serve as quick references for future security procedures.Concise and to the point, Hardening Cisco Routers supplies you with all the tools necessary to turn a potential vulnerability into a strength. In an area that is otherwise poorly documented, this is the one book that will help you make your Cisco routers rock solid.

This book is, pound for pound, among the best in my technical library.

Having almost no previous knowledge in router hardening (although I was aware of the basics of Cisco routers) a few hours with this book enabled me to review the "hardening" plan submitted by a highly paid security consultant, and provide useful comments on improving the proposal.

No doubt this book is the beginning, not the end, of my education on this subject. But this fine book got me off to a quick and productive start, which is high praise when compared to what could be said about so many other technical titles. Highly recommended.


A TRUE Goldmine for Cisco admins   April 4, 2002
Jim Fraiser (Montgomery, AL USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is a huge *must* for anyone who works with Cisco routers. I got it because as a network admin I needed a checklist on securing our routers. Showed it to our InfoSec director and he ordered all our routers nationwide to be secured according to the book's checklists!


Great compilation for hardening Cisco Routers   July 20, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Although the content of the book can be found in the Cisco web site, but why bother digging the web site for it?

Thomas Akin did a great job by providing all the basics (and more) that we should do to hardened Cisco Routers before putting it in a production network specially those routers providing internet access to users.

Danilo Castro Dy
MCP+I, MCSE, CCNP