A firewall is as good as its policies and the security of its VPN connections. The latest generation of firewalls offers a dizzying array of powerful options - the key to their success is to write concise policies that provide the appropriate level of access while maximizing security. This book covers the leading firewall products: Cisco PIX, Check Point NGX, Microsoft ISA Server, Junipers NetScreen Firewall, and SonicWall. It describes in plain English what features can be controlled by a policy, and walks the reader through the steps for writing the policy to fit the objective. Because of their vulnerability and their complexity, VPN policies are covered in more depth with numerous tips for troubleshooting remote connections. This is the only book that focuses on creating policies that apply to multiple products. Also included is a bonus chapter on using Ethereal, the most popular protocol analyzer, to monitor and analyze network traffic.