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Linux consistently appears high up in the list of popular Internet servers, whether it's for the Web, anonymous FTP, or general services such as DNS and delivering mail. But security is the foremost concern of anyone providing such a service. Any server experiences casual probe attempts dozens of time a day, and serious break-in attempts with some frequency as well.
This highly regarded book, originally titled Building Secure Servers with Linux, combines 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 Internet--and shows readers how to harden their hosts against attacks. An all-inclusive resource for Linux users who wish to harden their systems, Linux Server Security covers general security such as intrusion detection and firewalling a hub, as well as key services such as DNS, the Apache Web server, mail, and secure shell.
Author Michael D. Bauer, a security consultant, network architect, and lead author of the popular Paranoid Penguin column in the Linux Journal, carefully outlines the security risks, defines precautions that can minimize those risks, and offers recipes for robust security. He is joined on several chapters by administrator and developer Bill Lubanovic.
A number of new security topics have been added for this edition, including:
Disappointed about the installation instructions.Reviewed by Gayle Job, 2005-08-05
The big reason why I purchased this book was because it claimed it
was great about security and it said it would show how to setup
these services the correct way.
Well first of all this author loves to use the binary packages
(RPMs, etc.). And anyone that is a major security buff knows that
the RPMs are the last things to get updated when a flaw is found
out.
Secondly that's all the user shows for the installation of most of
the software is how to do it with a binary distribution. So unless
you are using Suse, Redhat, Fedora it is quite useless. This book
should indicate that it made for those distributions and it is not
general "Linux".
Also his views on running some of the software is really off the
wall. But that is just a personal preference I guess.
Overall if he would have used the regular "./configure ---comands",
"make", "make install" this book would have been much better and it
would have been able to be used for those that don't want to be
stuck in "rpm hell".
Not FocusedReviewed by !linux_user, 2005-06-13
I read every column of paranoid penguin and they are quite good.
This book is ok, but not great. They (I mean they because several
chapters are not by Mike) try to cover a huge amount of information
and make the mistake of being both too broad in some areas and too
specific in others. Overall, there wasn't a cohesive glue to bring
the chapters together into a single vision.
For instance, for a book that introduces FTP servers, web servers,
mail (imap/smtp), dns - they are like separate entities. They do
not complete the picture by showing a complete network diagram with
IDS / VPN, -- showing an example of all of their advice coming
together in a working solution. And Kerberos isn't even
mentioned.
They were extremely specific in some areas like talking about rpm
example/debian/ make options and specific .conf options ad nauseum
- which detracted from the whole picture. Is someone securing bind
4 really reading this book? Also, maybe a mention of apt-get - -
but don't tell me how to install each package on every architecture
- it just inflates the word count.
I don't think this book was focused enough in the 'big picture' of
trying to piece together all of the tiny pieces into a coherant
whole, while at the same time it gets cought up in the minute
details of certain packages making for a tough read.
Perhaps they could have included an actual example company or two
showing possible layouts of ldap in action with:
login/mail/split-dns/firewalls/database$web.
Anyone for OpenBSD?
For sys adminsReviewed by Lloyd R., 2005-06-02
Linux Server Security, Second Edition
By Michael D. Bauer
Second Edition January 2005
ISBN: 0-596-00670-5
544 pages, $44.95 US
(...)
This book goes along with the moving trend of the normal computer
user, securing your data. Servers generally are targeted more often
than the average home PC because most are made to be accessible
from the outside world. This is where securing that server comes
into play. This book covers the tools and techniques to securing
your Bastion host.
First I'd like to start out and explain what Bastion host means as
according this book so you can understand what this book covers
more specifically. Bastion Host is defined as "A system that runs
publicly accessible services but is usually not itself a firewall.
Bastion hosts are what we put on DMZ (although they can be put
anywhere). The term implies that a certain amount of system
hardening has been done, but sadly, this is not always the
case."
After you understand what a Bastion host is defined as, you should
understand that this book mainly covers these server daemons and
the systems that run them. But some of the information applies to a
Linux desktop system such as a per host iptables firewall, using
secure shell, keeping up with your logs, and intrusion detection.
Most of these things the average user doesn't care much about but
sometimes being paranoid comes in handy.
Someone who would most likely use this book more than the average
desktop user would probaly be a system administrator. Securing web,
database, ftp, dns, and email servers is what majority of this book
contains. Along with covering these server systems, there are
guides to securing the Linux system that runs these daemons along
with designing the networks around these types of hosts.
One of the sections I'm most fond of is Chapter 2: Designing
Perimeter Networks. With this section you can really take a look at
the design and layout of the different types of networks and figure
out the portions that suit your needs for your own network. The
diagrams shown in this chapter help explain what is going on with
the traffic and allows you to see exactly what is going on and at
what points the systems are protected.
At the end of the book there are 2 well commented iptables firewall
scripted that allow you to get a feel for the netfilter iptables
system if you're not familiar with it already. With some
modification of these scripts you can easily bring them into a
working environment depending on your situation, which sometimes
these helps with some of the frustration with the iptables syntax.
I personally prefer the PF system within OpenBSD for it's clean
syntax and have grown away from iptables, but both are powerful
firewall systems and should fit the needs of your network.
I'd definitely recommend this book to system admins or anyone who
is paranoid about their security. Security is always something that
people should be educated about.
Lloyd Randall
Pensacola Linux User's Group
Great Reference for New Server AdminsReviewed by J. Huckaby, 2005-03-21
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is involved with
securing Internet servers. The book strikes a nice balance between
theoretical background and implementation examples.
Though certainly not all encompassing, the book touches on several
key elements of server security, including DNS, Email, File
Servers, Web Services, IDS methods and more. People new or just
curious about Linux server security will gain the most. More
experienced system administrators will find a few implementation
tips and useful background information for presentation or training
purposes.
Unlike many server security books, this one includes some notes on
alternatives to the most popular software packages. For example,
the chapter on securing Internet email includes excellent tips on
securing both Sendmail and Postfix while the IDS chapter covers the
popular Tripwire package and some lesser-known integrity checkers.
References and the end of each chapter are provided to point you to
even more solutions.
This book certainly will not replace a dedicated reference volume,
but I find it to be a good summary of major security practices for
bastion hosts. Note that the book focuses primarily on host
hardening. Though there are some sections on network security, most
of the chapters focus on locking down your server. So if you are
mainly interested in network clusters, network surveillance, or
honeypots, you will probably want to find another reference. Also,
if you have several years of experience, you may not find too much
new information, but the book is a handy reference volume that can
point you in the right direction. If, however, you are new to Linux
server security or just simply want a concise summary of common
security practices, then this will be a welcomed addition to your
technical library.
Very helpfulReviewed by Eric Kent, 2005-03-07
I am quite happy that there are books like Linux Server
Security.
A lot of people think Linux is bullet proof, but its not. If not
configured correctly, it can be just as insecure as Windows.
Linux Server Security is an important and timely book in that it
shows how to harden Linux to be very secure.
