news@celticbear.com wrote:

> Took a look at B&N for some Linux security books, and was
> hoping to get some recommendations from actual users.
> Can anyone offer any advice on the following, or recommend
> a different one you think is better?
>
> Linux Security Cookbook (O'Reilly)
> Linux Server Security (O'Reilly)
> Hardening Linux (Turnball)
>
> I'm a little uncertain about that last one. Evidently it
> doesn't cover Apache or mySQL security, and I'd kind of
> like to have something that does, at least a little.
>
> Any feedback would be really appreciated!
> Liam

Perhaps the best book for the newbie on Linux security is

Peter G. Smith: Linux Network Security (2005)

That's >500 pages and US$50.

Other excellent books on the subject, some of them classics,
are

Brian Hatch & James Lee: Hacking Linux Exposed (2nd ed.,
2003)
Bob Toxen: Real World Linux Security (2nd ed., 2003)
Simson Garfinkel et al.: Practical Unix & Internet Security
(3rd ed., O'Reilly, 2003)
John Terpstra et al., Hardening Linux

They're all hefty (700-1000 pages) and pricey ($40-50).

You may also want to check out the following guides which
are available on the web for free:

Linux Security HOWTO by Fenzi & Wreski (55 pages)
Security Quick-Start HOWTO for Linux by Hal Burgiss (76
pages)
The 60 Minute Network Security Guide from the NAS (38 pages)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3: Security Guide (120 pages)
Gentoo Linux Security Guide