syslog

This February issue focuses on Network Security -- always an essential topic to systems administrators. One way to stay up to date regarding the latest security tools and trends is to attend a security conference. According to their Web site, the RSA Conference 2004 (February 23-27, Moscone Center, San Francisco) offers information on technology trends and best practices in identity theft, hacking, cyber-terrorism, biometrics, network forensics, perimeter defense, secure Web services, encryption, and other related topics. You can find out more from the conference Web site at: http://2004.rsaconference.com/.

SANS CDI (Cyber Defense Initiative) West 2004 will be held January 26-31 at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina, San Diego. The conference tracks offered at SANS CDI West 2004 include: SANS Security Essentials Bootcamp and the CISSP 10 Domains; Firewalls, Perimeter Protection and VPNs; Intrusion Detection In-Depth; Hacker Techniques, Exploits and Incident Handling; Securing Windows; and System Forensics, Investigations and Response. For more information, see the show Web site at: http://www.sans.org/cdiwest04/ or check out the SANS brochure included with this issue for the dates of a SANS conference in your area.

Later in the year, you can attend Computer Security Institute's NetSec 2004 -- Building the Secure Enterprise (June 14-16, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, San Francisco). According to their Web site, NetSec offers sessions on cutting-edge technologies and the management of those technologies. "NetSec's critical focus means narrowing the beam to spot the details that matter. In defensive strategies, it means best practice; in wireless, it means examining WPA with an eye toward real implementation; in forensics, it means finding the evidence that tells the story." Learn more about the NetSec conference at: http://www.gocsi.com/events/netsec.jhtml.

In this issue, Barnett and Smith provide an overview of IPCop, an inexpensive solution for intranets that require comprehensive network security. Rajeev Kumar explains how to set up Squid as a proxy firewall in front of your Web server. And, Lawrence Teo describes Dovecot, an open source IMAP server that advertises itself as "an IMAP and POP3 server for Linux/Unix-like systems, written primarily with security in mind." I hope you find these articles useful. As always, feel free to contact me with article ideas and suggestions for future coverage.

Sincerely yours,

Amber Ankerholz
Editor in Chief