Linux System Security: The Administrator's Guide to Open Source Security Tools

Mann, Scott; Mitchell, Ellen L.

ISBN 10: 0130158070 ISBN 13: 9780130158079

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1999

Synopsis

Demonstrates exactly how to protect your vital resources, using today's most powerful Open Source security tools. Helps make you an expert quickly, with insiders' coverage of the potential problems and rules of thumb, and undocumented tricks you'd otherwise have to learn the hard way.

About this title

Review:

The introduction of Linux System Security acknowledges that there's no magic bullet as far as security is concerned. Security-minded system administration is a process of constant revision. It promises, though, that "[i]f you follow the procedures outlined in this book, you will certainly reduce your level of vulnerability." The book delivers on that promise in spades.

Using Red Hat Linux as the demonstration environment, the authors explain how to use a suite of publicly available tools to analyze, protect, and monitor your machines and networks. They approach the subject from a practical standpoint, emphasizing software and its use while referring the reader (using copious bibliographic notes) to more specialized works for detailed information on cryptography, firewall configuration, and other subjects.

Scott Mann and Ellen Mitchell have done excellent work in combining explanations of the "soft" aspects of security management with the particulars of using software. In a typical section, they explain how to acquire, install, and run Crack, a password breaker. First they show how a bad guy would use Crack to get unauthorized access to a machine over a network; then they explore the "white hat" applications of the program as a security tool for preemptively weeding out weak passwords. More detailed coverage goes to tiger and Tripwire, a pair of powerful auditing and monitoring tools. Along with Maximum Linux Security (which covers more offensive and defensive weapons in less detail), this is one of the two best Linux security books you can own. --David Wall

Topics covered: Linux security practices and tools, as demonstrated under Red Hat Linux 5.2 and 6. Software and commands include Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM), OPIE, syslog, sudo, xinetd, Secure Shell (SSH), Crack, tiger, Tripwire, The Cryptographic File System (TCFS), and ipchains. The authors discuss administrative policies and procedures along the way.

From the Back Cover:

Maximize Linux security, hands-on-with today's best open source tools

If you depend on Linux to run mission-critical networks or store business-critical data, are you sure you can protect your Linux systems from intruders? You'd better be-and with Linux System Security, you can be!

Long-time Linux sysadmins Scott Mann and Ellen Mitchell demonstrate exactly how to protect your vital resources, using today's most powerful open source security tools. Linux System Security makes you an expert fast, with insiders' coverage of the "gotchas," "rules of thumb," and undocumented tricks you'd otherwise have to learn the hard way. Coverage includes:

* Preparing Linux systems for a production environment
* Identifying vulnerabilities, and planning for security administration
* Configuring Linux-based firewalls, authentication, and encryption
* Intrusion detection on Linux systems
* Securing filesystems, email, web servers, and other key applications
* Protecting mixed Linux/Unix and Windows NT environments

You'll find hands-on introductions to the Linux community's most important security tools, including sudo, TCP, wrappers, xinetd, SSH, tiger, Tripwire, ipchains, PAM, crack, and many others.

If you want the benefits of Linux without the security risks, you want Linux System Security!

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0130158070
• ISBN 13: 9780130158079
• Binding: Textbook Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 800