Linux security basics

There seem to be two kinds of people in the world: those who think computer security is fun and exciting, and those who think it is arcane and scary. Professional system administrators who read their logs will tell you computer security is actually long periods of boredom punctuated by intervals of sleeplessness, panic, and frantic activity.

For months, you read logs that basically consist of the same sequence of messages. Then one morning, you see a different message. Your first thought tends to be "I've been hit!" You want to determine whether the attack was successful. You comb through logs and examine files on your systems, looking for signs of abnormal behavior. There are none; maybe the attack has failed. But perhaps the attacker was smarter than you. For days or weeks you remain unsure if your system's defenses were penetrated. Eventually, you forget about it and move on to a new crisis.

I think driving is an excellent metaphor for computer security, on a number of levels: Some people think driving is enjoyable and exciting, but some think it is dangerous and scary. I insure my vehicle, follow the rules of the road, wear my seatbelt, stay out of harm's way, keep my eyes on the road, and perform regular maintenance. Let's take a look at how each of those steps applies to computer security.

Post a comment

Your name: *

E-mail: *

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Subject:

Comment: *

• Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
• Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Incorrect please try again

Try another

Vision impaired

Word challenge

Help

* Type both words below, separated by a space

Security Check provided by reCAPTCHA.
© 2008 Carnegie Mellon University, All rights reserved.

Brian Proffitt
Microsoft/Novell: Breaking Down the Coupon Numbers

Esther Schindler
Drupal's Dries Buytaert on Building the Next Drupal

Tom Henderson
Top Ten General Operating Systems Rants

pasmith
PS3 motion controller delayed; goes up against Project Natal

sjvn
Neolithic Windows security hole alive and well in Windows 7

claird
Perl source code comparison makes for good reading

mikelgan
Cell phones don't create stress or interrupt much

Sandra Henry-Stocker
How to: The Unix Interview

This month we're giving away 5 copies of each of these great books. Enter today for your chance to win!

	Friends With Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook Tips, tricks, and real-world case studies to help you increase your online visibility.Enter now!
	Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition Detailed information on installing, using, and administering Ubuntu. Enter now!
	VMware vSphere 4 Implementation Best practices for deploying the vSphere product in real-world enterprise environments.Enter now!