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Cybersecurity for Small Networks: A No-Nonsense Guide for the Reasonably Paranoid
A guide to implementing DIY security solutions and readily available technologies to protect home and small-office networks from attack.
This book is an easy-to-follow series of tutorials that will lead readers through different facets of protecting household or small-business networks from cyber attacks. You’ll learn how to use pfSense to build a firewall, lock down wireless, segment a network into protected zones, configure a VPN (virtual private network) to hide and encrypt network traffic and communications, set up proxies to speed up network performance and hide the source of traffic, block ads, install and configure an antivirus, back up your data securely, and even how to monitor your network for unauthorized activity and alert you to intrusion.
This book is an easy-to-follow series of tutorials that will lead readers through different facets of protecting household or small-business networks from cyber attacks. You’ll learn how to use pfSense to build a firewall, lock down wireless, segment a network into protected zones, configure a VPN (virtual private network) to hide and encrypt network traffic and communications, set up proxies to speed up network performance and hide the source of traffic, block ads, install and configure an antivirus, back up your data securely, and even how to monitor your network for unauthorized activity and alert you to intrusion.
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2022
38 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 15, 2022
This book is an excellent crash course for someone like me with a technical background but little security experience. I've always wanted to beef up my home server and network security but didn't know where to start, or what holes I'd still be leaving open despite my best efforts. This book has given me actionable steps I can take today, this week, this month, and beyond. And it gives me the confidence that I'm following reasonable best practices for an actual small network.
I respectfully disagree with the reviewer who stated "You'll get more from blogs." Yes, the entire internet contains more information than one book. But much of that info can be conflicting armchair expertise tailored to enterprise setups or extreme power users.
I read it all the way through once just to survey the landscape and I learned a great deal in the process. When the time is right to implement a specific portion of my setup I'll go back and reference the chapter again. I wish I could leave an Amazon review but it's not available yet unfortunately (possibly because the official publish date isn't for a couple of months apparently).
I respectfully disagree with the reviewer who stated "You'll get more from blogs." Yes, the entire internet contains more information than one book. But much of that info can be conflicting armchair expertise tailored to enterprise setups or extreme power users.
I read it all the way through once just to survey the landscape and I learned a great deal in the process. When the time is right to implement a specific portion of my setup I'll go back and reference the chapter again. I wish I could leave an Amazon review but it's not available yet unfortunately (possibly because the official publish date isn't for a couple of months apparently).
June 24, 2024
I expected it to be some fun book for nerds over-securing their home labs, but actually it is rather set of tutorials for configuring network services with mentioning security along the way. I am not sure who is the target audience. Tutorials targets beginners, but actually book assume some previous knowledge in networking. While there is chapter describing segmentation of network and it’s security benefits, but any networking stuff needed for splitting subnets, adjusting subnet mask, computing addresses of subnets, and so on are not described. For example, author mention three formats of subnet mask, but actually do not describe what they mean nor how to convert between them.
Like in many security topics, some ideas are opinion based and I several times did not agree with book author.
1) Author hates or/and do not understand IPv6. The only references to IPv6 says that you should disable it for making your network more secure. Actually, you make your network less usable instead of secure and this may be more significant in time. It is better to configure IPv6 secure from scratch now instead of patching it on all places later.
2) While author describe pretty generic terms, he recommends specific hardware from netgear and asus. Fun fact is that No Starch published errata adding note that mentioned hardware is deprecated and you should use alternative. In my opinion author should not fix references to specific expensive hardware in the book. It definitely is not needed and you can procced with completely hardware or even virtualized one.
3) While at the beginning author configure very strict firewall restricting use of SSH even in local network, later opens lot of security services to the whole LAN even without mentioning that you should limit them on firewall somehow.
4) Author mention VPN as some automagical technology which make you privacy completely secure and something you must have. He recommend to route whole traffic over it. Sometime I felt that he does not understand difference between SSL and VPN, and their purposes. VPN do not make network communication completely safe; you just send your commotion to the internet using different endpoint. Once reaching the endpoint, it is unsecure as it was when sending directly from your local net. You do not hide data to all parties on the way. You eliminate only some and possibly introduce some new. The chapter do not mention any security concern of VPNs. Additionally, while author recommends pretty strictly securing everything, in case of OpenVPN CA cert/key, he recommends do not setting password for that key, because it is boring to type it again and again. Little bit sad considering that it is the most important cert in whole OpenVPN setup.
5) Author runs away from any kind troubleshooting. Many descriptions end up that if it does not work, you should try reboot, reinstall server, delete it and configure again, and so on. No troubleshooting is evolved anywhere in the book.
That said, I give 4-star. Books is good for beginners and even intermediate user can take something from it. Later chapters about monitoring are interesting and good. They are interesting even for advanced users. Definitely it can help you make your home network more secure, but advanced administrators (nerds over-securing their enterprise-like home networks) most probably already know almost everything mentioned in the book. The biggest issue is with price, but e-book is often offered on Humble Bundle for fraction of the price.
Like in many security topics, some ideas are opinion based and I several times did not agree with book author.
1) Author hates or/and do not understand IPv6. The only references to IPv6 says that you should disable it for making your network more secure. Actually, you make your network less usable instead of secure and this may be more significant in time. It is better to configure IPv6 secure from scratch now instead of patching it on all places later.
2) While author describe pretty generic terms, he recommends specific hardware from netgear and asus. Fun fact is that No Starch published errata adding note that mentioned hardware is deprecated and you should use alternative. In my opinion author should not fix references to specific expensive hardware in the book. It definitely is not needed and you can procced with completely hardware or even virtualized one.
3) While at the beginning author configure very strict firewall restricting use of SSH even in local network, later opens lot of security services to the whole LAN even without mentioning that you should limit them on firewall somehow.
4) Author mention VPN as some automagical technology which make you privacy completely secure and something you must have. He recommend to route whole traffic over it. Sometime I felt that he does not understand difference between SSL and VPN, and their purposes. VPN do not make network communication completely safe; you just send your commotion to the internet using different endpoint. Once reaching the endpoint, it is unsecure as it was when sending directly from your local net. You do not hide data to all parties on the way. You eliminate only some and possibly introduce some new. The chapter do not mention any security concern of VPNs. Additionally, while author recommends pretty strictly securing everything, in case of OpenVPN CA cert/key, he recommends do not setting password for that key, because it is boring to type it again and again. Little bit sad considering that it is the most important cert in whole OpenVPN setup.
5) Author runs away from any kind troubleshooting. Many descriptions end up that if it does not work, you should try reboot, reinstall server, delete it and configure again, and so on. No troubleshooting is evolved anywhere in the book.
That said, I give 4-star. Books is good for beginners and even intermediate user can take something from it. Later chapters about monitoring are interesting and good. They are interesting even for advanced users. Definitely it can help you make your home network more secure, but advanced administrators (nerds over-securing their enterprise-like home networks) most probably already know almost everything mentioned in the book. The biggest issue is with price, but e-book is often offered on Humble Bundle for fraction of the price.
November 28, 2024
Seth Enoka’s Cyber Security for Small Networks: A Guide to the Reasonable Paranoid is a practical guide to safeguarding home and small-business networks from cyber threats. This easy-to-follow tutorial walks readers through essential security measures, from building firewalls with pfSense to configuring VPNs for encrypted connections. The book covers a range of topics, including wireless network security, network segmentation, proxy server setup, ad blocking, antivirus installation, data backup strategies, and network intrusion detection. While experienced cybersecurity professionals may find some familiar ground, beginners will appreciate the clear, step-by-step approach. Key highlights include in-depth discussions on malware removal, backup best practices, and network monitoring techniques. Whether you’re a tech-savvy individual or a small business owner, this book provides the knowledge and tools to strengthen your network’s defenses against cyberattacks.
January 9, 2024
Hardening Your Systems Against Penetration
This was a great book for small businesses to learn the various attack vectors they have, and what they can do to harden and lock down their networks against various cybersecurity threats.
I got a lot out of this book, and found it an excellent resource on my ongoing personal journey into cybersecurity.
Highly recommend small businesses pick this book up, or at least hire penetration testers to test how secure their systems are - better safe than sorry!
Definitely check it out!
4.8/5
This was a great book for small businesses to learn the various attack vectors they have, and what they can do to harden and lock down their networks against various cybersecurity threats.
I got a lot out of this book, and found it an excellent resource on my ongoing personal journey into cybersecurity.
Highly recommend small businesses pick this book up, or at least hire penetration testers to test how secure their systems are - better safe than sorry!
Definitely check it out!
4.8/5
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May 10, 2024
Best book for small scale cybersecurity setups. Step by step and reasoning. If you want to know the why of cybersecurity, or if you want to know the what, at least on a small scale, this is your book. I will be reviewing it over and over again.
October 5, 2022
Almost impossible to understand purpose of this book. $39.99? You'll get more from blogs.
July 13, 2023
Great book for beginners or "newbies" that are looking or curious about increasing their home network with free or low cost solutions.
January 4, 2024
Excellennt
Basically,it does just what it says. Something just about anyone can do to protect a small network, including a discussion on backups.
Basically,it does just what it says. Something just about anyone can do to protect a small network, including a discussion on backups.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews