Configuring Check Point NGX VPN-1/Firewall-1 (ISBN 1597490318)

Near the official courseware:
This book is written by many respected authors and security professionals. Among them there is Barry J. Stiefel, the man who founded the first Check Point User Group (www.cpug.org). I'm a Check Point Certified Instructor (CCSI) and can assure this book covers a lot of topics included in official Check Point VPN-1 NGX coursewares. On Chapter 13 about Check Point VPN clients solutions it includes a Integrity technology discussion, acquired from ZoneLabs and to be merged with SecureClient. On Chapter 14 it also includes a lot of details from the official Check Point SecurePlatform courseware. The last chapter, Chapter 16 about VoIP, is even better than on the official course manual. The book misses more details on some covered product features, coverage of some excluded features, OPSEC 3rd party interoperability examples, architectural problems discussion (like logging strategy, rulebase optimization, etc.), but it's a good book. I strongly recommend it to anyone didn't take the course and want to have a wide coverage of many VPN-1 NGX features. Who already attended the official course won't find here anything new.

THE BULLETPROOF FIREWALL!!:
Are you getting ready to take your Check Point certification exam? If you are, then this book is for you! Authors Robert Stephens, Barry Stiefel, Stephen Watkins, Simon Desmeules and Eli Faskha, have done an outstanding job of writing a book that is the perfect reference for anyone migrating from earlier versions of Check Point's flagship firewall/VPN product; as well as, those deploying VPN-1/FireWall-1 for the first time. Stephens, Stiefel, Watkins, Desmeules and Faskha, begin by discussing the various methods that are deployed among different firewall vendors and open source solutions. Then, the authors discuss the significant changes between NG AI and NGX and partitions these changes into eight major categories. They continue with a review of what must be done prior to the actual installation and configuration of a Check Point environment. Next, the authors guide you through the necessary steps to perform the NGX upgrade. Then they take you on a tour of the interface used to configure your NGX installation: the SmartDashboard. They also discuss the need for tracking and walk you through a few configuration examples. Then, they discuss both basic and advanced concepts for network security and reveal how Check Point's technologies supply relief for current threats. The authors continue by showing you how to enable or disable Network Address Translation for a single host, for a range of addresses, or for an entire network. Next, they address the best way to authenticate users so they can access privileged resources. Then, the authors show you how Check Point FireWall-1 can integrate with third-party products. They continue by focusing on configuring site-to-site VPNs and the different design considerations that are involved. Next, the authors discuss the increasing number of employees that are either working comfortably at home or just simply away from the office, who need corporate access as if working locally. Then, they examine the functionality of SmartUpdate as a SmartConsole client in your Check Point environment. They also take you on a tour of SecurePlatform with the different operating system capabilities and the Check Point supported add-ons to SPLAT. Next, the authors demonstrate how to set up SmartView Monitor in a way that will allow you to view all your security components that your SmartCenter manages. Finally, the authors show, first the reason why VoIP should be secured and, second, how it is done. The goal of this most excellent book is to cover all of NGX's dramatic changes and new, enhanced features. More importantly, you will learn how to secure the integrality of your network's data, communications, and applications from a multitude of blended threats.

Good Reference Book:
'Configuring Check Point NGX VPN-1/Firewall-1' by Robert Stephens is another good book by Syngress for IT Professionals. Syngress has really focussed on IT setup and configuration for it's latest releases of books and they have done a solid job. Packing over 600 pages of material into this guide, if you use Checkpoint at your job, you would be wise to pick up a copy of this book for your desk at work. ***** RECOMMENDED

All the new NGX features:
Any familiar with prior versions of Check Point's firewall program and newcomers to CheckPoint alike will find CONFIGURING CHECK POINT NGX VPN-1/FIREWALL-1 an important overview of all the new features in NGX. From working with the SmartView Tracker tool and understanding how a Check Point VPN-1 Pro Gateway administrator evolves to work into network security to handling authentication and integrity issues globally, everything from building the platform to licensing is covered in detail. An excellent survey of all the enhanced features and changes.