[techtalk] Re: techtalk digest, Vol 1 #449 - 9 msgs

[Mary Gardiner]

On Sun, May 13, 2001 at 01:17:27AM +1000, jenn at simegen.com wrote:
> > I am sure I am not the only person concerned on this list, or lurking, I 
> > think you should share any other things you are aware of as a system 
> > admin that allow someone into the system or give root access through 
> > ways other than the normal channels as well as they ways to close these 
> > things off.
> 
> I think that if you're that worried, hie yourself to a bookstore or
> a good library and pick up an O'Reilly book. You'll get better 
> information that way than you possibly could from an email from me.

My feelings about this thread are best summed up in the post I made in reply
to the same one Jenn replies to here.

However, it did remind me that Linux is a system with a large enough public user
base to be subject to frequent attacks when on a hostile network (eg the
internet).

Securing Linux is an important part of running Linux on anything other than
an isolated desktop.

It's also something that is not easily translatable from Windows 95/98
experience, since these don't tend to run services (difficult piece of
knowledge: on Linux, viruses are rare and remote exploits are what you should
worry about).

Hence it's perfect material for our techtalk FAQ. I don't know whether it
includes much, but I feel inspired to do more. And since I've had CVS access to
it for months now and haven't touched it, it is time to do some work.

Anyone got any sample Qs and As for me? I'll do some myself and post some
drafts. Also, could people send me URLs and books to add for references, it
is a pretty well-covered topic. Just one you don't know about when you begin
using Linux.

Mary.

-- 
Mary Gardiner
<mary at puzzling.org>
GPG Key ID: 77625870