Book details of 'Linux Security Cookbook'

Title	Linux Security Cookbook
Author(s)	Daniel J. Barrett, Richard E. Silverman, Robert G. Byrnes
ISBN	0596003919
Language	English
Published	June 2003
Publisher	O'Reilly & Associates

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Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
In the introduction, the authors state that this is not a security text, but a list of practical and individual pointers for improving security in specific areas. Chapter one covers how to take system snapshots with Tripwire, in order to detect changes that might indicate an intrusion or a virus. The establishment of a firewall, using the iptables and ipchains utilities, is dealt with in chapter two. Chapter three examines the control of access to various network services. Authentication techniques and infrastructures are detailed in chapters four and five. Protecting outgoing network connections, files, and email are described in chapters six, seven, and eight respectively. The material on testing and monitoring, in chapter nine, is the most extensive in the book, and provides a good introduction to Snort as well. This is good, practical advice, and makes an excellent reference for anyone dealing with the security of Linux in a networked environment. In one sense the authors are right, for they stick to the nuts and bolts, without discussing security frameworks or theories. In another sense they are wrong: this text does what the "hacking" books only pretend to do. The authors of the genre of "Teach Total Idiots How to Hack and They Will Automatically Turn Into Security Experts" texts all imagine that they teach you how to harden/secure a system, but don't. This does. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003
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Book description:

Computer security is an ongoing process, a relentless contest between system administrators and intruders. A good administrator needs to stay one step ahead of any adversaries, which often involves a continuing process of education. If you're grounded in the basics of security, however, you won't necessarily want a complete treatise on the subject each time you pick up a book. Sometimes you want to get straight to the point. That's exactly what the new Linux Security Cookbook does. Rather than provide a total security solution for Linux computers, the authors present a series of easy-to-follow recipes--short, focused pieces of code that administrators can use to improve security and perform common tasks securely. The Linux Security Cookbook includes real solutions to a wide range of targeted problems, such as sending encrypted email within Emacs, restricting access to network services at particular times of day, firewalling a webserver, preventing IP spoofing, setting up key-based SSH authentication, and much more. With over 150 ready-to-use scripts and configuration files, this unique book helps administrators secure their systems without having to look up specific syntax. The book begins with recipes devised to establish a secure system, then moves on to secure day-to-day practices, and concludes with techniques to help your system stay secure. Some of the "recipes" you'll find in this book are: Controlling access to your system from firewalls down to individual services, using iptables, ipchains, xinetd, inetd, and more Monitoring your network with tcpdump, dsniff, netstat, and other tools Protecting network connections with Secure Shell (SSH) and stunnel Safeguarding email sessions with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Encrypting files and email messages with GnuPG Probing your own security with password crackers, nmap, and handy scripts This cookbook's proven techniques are derived from hard-won experience. Whether you're responsible for security on a home Linux system or for a large corporation, or somewhere in between, you'll find valuable, to-the-point, practical recipes for dealing with everyday security issues. This book is a system saver.