Building Secure Servers with Linux
Michael D. Bauer, Andy Oram · 2002
From the Publisher: Linux consistently turns up high on the list of popular Internet servers, whether the system is being used for the Web, anonymous FTP, or general services like DNS and routing mail. Security is foremost in the mind of anyone providing such a service. A server is likely to experience casual probe attempts dozens of times a day, and serious break-in attempts with some frequency as well. Building Secure Servers with Linux will help you master the principles of reliable system and network security by combining practical advice with a firm knowledge of the technical tools needed to ensure security. The book focuses on the most common use of Linux -- as a hub offering services to an organization or the larger Internet -- and shows readers how to harden their hosts against attacks. Author Mick Bauer, a security consultant, network architect, and lead author of the popular Paranoid Penguin column in Linux Journal, carefully outlines the security risks, defines precautions that can minimize those risks, and offers recipes for robust security. The book does not cover firewalls, but covers the more common situation in which an organization protects its hub using other systems as firewalls, which are often proprietary. The book explains which daemons and tools are best for a given purpose and documents those daemons and tools in detail. The result is a comprehensive and integrated guide to safe information exchange on the Internet.