Welcome to the newest book on the block "Essential Firepower". This book is focused on best practice configurations for Cisco's Firepower Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).
Recently, I was asked why I wrote this book. My response was that after 14 years of using, teaching and consulting on this Snort-based IPS/firewall I wanted to write down my thoughts while I'm still in the game. Another reason is that I've heard numerous requests, even pleas, for best practice documentation over the years. There have been some attempts here and there to put together white papers and such. But nothing has covered all the policies and nothing has been done from the perspective of customer usability.
The book is written for "the rest of us". That is, folks who manage this firewall day to day but may not have time to research and dig into every last setting and knob. Following these recommendations will result in a solid baseline deployment. From there, you can tweak or adjust the settings and policies as desired. Remember, this is not a one size fits all book. I have tried to explain my reasoning behind every setting. If those reasons don't apply to your situation then feel free to adapt as needed.
You can find it on Amazon.
Thanks for reading and Happy Snorting!
