While Mac OS X is becoming more and more stable with each release, its UNIX/BSD underpinnings have security implications that ordinary Mac users have never before been faced with. Mac OS X can be used as both a powerful Internet server, or, in the wrong hands, a very powerful attack launch point.

Yet most Mac OS X books are generally quite simplistic -- with the exception of the author's "Mac OS X Unleashed," the first book to address OS X's underlying BSD subsystem.

"Maximum Mac OS X Security" takes a similar UNIX-oriented approach, going into significantly greater depth on OS X security topics:

• Setup basics, including Airport and network topology security.
• User administration and resource management with NetInfo.
• Types of attacks, how attacks work, and how to stop them.
• Network service security, such as e-mail, Web, and file sharing.
• Intrusion prevention and detection, and hands-on detection tools.