The Cisco PIX version 7.0 release was highly anticipated in the Cisco community with rumors of nifty new features and the retirement of some older commands (favored and ill-favored). Version 7.0 incorporates new features and new ways of securing your network, which makes the PIX firewall a very competitive product. Version 7.0 standardizes the PIX firewall along internetwork operating system (IOS) lines. Anyone who is familiar with the IOS command structure and the IOS way of configuration will find the changes friendly and welcome. Commands have been deleted, changed, or added, which in many cases, provide long-sought-after structure and consistency that were lacking in previous releases. Longtime PIX administrators and engineers may have a harder time to adapting to the changes than PIX newcomers who are starting with version 7.0 since old habits can be hard to break.

Cisco had added many new features to its PIX firewalls with 7.0. In some cases, these features are simply enhanced versions, and in other cases, long overdue overhauls. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss each individual change. Instead, we will focus on the most typical configuration scenarios and provide the 7.0 way of accomplishing them.

The PIX software design team has eliminated several awkward and/or useless commands such as outbound and conduit in favor of the more flexible and consistent access lists. The old FIXUP command, which always brought to mind uncomfortable dating experiences, has been replaced by Inspect commands, which are familiar to...