Acknowledgments

I want to give special recognition to Michelle Grandin for making me a believer in myself and giving me the confidence to write this book. Also, very special thanks to Brett Bartow, Chris Cleveland, Allison Johnson, and the Cisco Press production team for their support and commitment. They took this book from just another engineering idea to a comprehensive book that will hopefully help many people to understand and implement network and host security.

When this book was started, ASA and the PIX version 7 operating system were in pre-beta stage; there was little information available about the product. Because of this, I needed to lean heavily on my technical editors, who are key individuals in delivering this product to the market. A very, very special thanks to the technical editors Steve DeJarnett, Andy Huey, and Darrin Miller for their incredible efforts to ensure the accuracy of the technical information of this book. You guys are the best!

Also a very special thanks to Steve DeJarnett, the engineering manager for ASDM, for his trust and support in allowing me to represent the hard work of his team by bringing this book to press. In addition, I want to thank the ASDM and 7.0 software development team, who did such an incredible job delivering this product. The book scratches only the surface of the effort and sweat that you folks put into the development of this product. I want to formally acknowledge the superhuman feat you guys and gals pulled off bringing Cisco into the twenty-first century with this product.

A big "thank you" goes out to Cisco managers Mike Jones, Dan Angst, Mark Doering, and Larry Battle for allowing me the opportunity to complete this project. Also a thank you to Ido Dubrawsky, a good friend and Cisco Press author, who helped build the foundation of this book with his contributions to the original outline and table of contents. I also want to recognize the efforts of my friends Tom Hunter, Matt Kaneko, and Cihan Yazicioglu, all ASA/PIX technical marketing engineers, who helped in many different ways, but mostly provided me with early technical material that enabled me to make early headway in this book.

I want to thank my cousin Gary Chavez, who is also a published author, for helping to set my expectations before, after, and during the delivery of this book. Through his success as an author, he has motivated me to move forward with this project.

There are also five individuals who have been professional and life mentors, without whom I wouldn't even have been in the position to write this book. Cisco managers and friends Lorne Braddock and Kevin Lueders, who helped me to shape my career, as well as helping me to understand the importance of a strong foundation and the importance of integrity. My friend Joe Riera, who believed in and who helped me get started on my career path. And finally, thanks to my father and mother, Pete and Betty Abelar, for being who they are and helping me through life's lessons and supporting me unconditionally.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my family. My wife, Ellen, who not only encouraged me to work weekends for three months while she took care of our three young sons, but who also stood behind me and supported me through the year-long process of bringing this book to market. In addition, she spent countless hours editing my grammar and flow so I wouldn't look too silly when I delivered my final draft. Also, thanks to my boys, Jesse, Ethan and Ryan, who patiently waited for Daddy to come home late at night and on weekends, still greeting me with warm and open arms.