Hack Proofing Linux : A Guide to Open Source Security [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by James Stanger (Author), Patrick T. Lane (Author) "In spite of the ups and downs of the dot-com industry, open source software has become a viable alternative to commercial companies such as Microsoft,..." (more)
Key Phrases: logging enhancers, kadmin command, zombie zapper, Red Hat, Frequently Asked Questions, Solutions Fast Track (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"... I like this book. It would be a good textbook to use with a one-week Linux security workshop" -- Information Security Bulletin

Product Description
From the authors of the bestselling E-Mail Virus Protection Handbook!

The Linux operating system continues to gain market share based largely on its reputation as being the most secure operating system available. The challenge faced by system administrators installing Linux is that it is secure only if installed and configured properly, constantly and meticulously updated, and carefully integrated with a wide variety of Open Source security tools. The fact that Linux source code is readily available to every hacker means that system administrators must continually learn security and anti-hacker techniques.

Hack Proofing Linux will provide system administrators with all of the techniques necessary to properly configure and maintain Linux systems and counter malicious attacks.

* Linux operating systems and Open Source security tools are incredibly powerful, complex, and notoriously under-documented - this book addresses a real need
* CD-Rom contains Red Hat/Mandrake Linux RPMs as well as tarballs for other Linux distributions and the BSD community
* Uses forensics-based analysis to give the reader an insight to the mind of a hacker

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Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Syngress; 1 edition (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928994342
• ISBN-13: 978-1928994343
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #652,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An overly ambitious book with some technical inaccuracies, October 21, 2001

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I am not a Linux expert, nor do I have experience using all of the tools included in "Hack Proofing Linux" (HPL). Unfortunately, I don't believe HPL was written by experts either; few have knowledge spanning the entire open source security arena. By venturing beyond the authors' core expertise, HPL offers some incorrect information. If you accept these limitations, HPL still introduces an impressive array of Linux security applications.

The deployment of Linux antivirus solutions is HPL's first example of questionable material. The authors seem to think products like AntiVir exist to protect Linux hosts. Actually, Linux-hosted anti-virus solutions primarily screen email traffic for Windows-based malicious logic. Finding a "VBS.FreeLink" virus on a Microsoft-based CD-ROM, mounted on a Linux system, doesn't qualify as protecting the Linux operating system. (See p. 123 for this example.)

The second sample of questionable material involves discussions of the nmap port scanner. Chapter 3 doesn't provide accurate information on the tool's options. On p. 136, "-s" doesn't mean "stealth" in all cases. P. 137 provides this puzzle: "-sS uses the SYN feature of TCP... even if the remote computer doesn't want to communicate with your host, NMAP is still able to gather sufficient information from this scan to learn the open ports." On p. 140, we should hear that specifying "ME" in a decoy scan indicates where to place your true source IP; it doesn't "increase the likelihood that your system will be hidden from IDS logs." P. 142 incorrectly says -sS "helps the scan get past firewalls, which often filter out initial SYN packets." Material like this seems like speculation or misinterpretation, not sound advice.

Beyond technical inaccuracies, I believe HPL is more about installation of tools and less about operational use. Knowing how to install Snort with database support is significant. Having the ability to configure the ruleset, interpret the alerts, and operationalize the system is far more important. That level of detail deserves a separate book, not several pages in a single chapter.

Still, I haven't seen another book which covers so many open source security tools. You'll find instructions for installing GPG, nmap, Nessus, Tripwire, TCPDump, Ethereal, EtherApe, OpenSSH, Squid -- the list goes on. Beyond verifying the material I believed was inaccurate, I skimmed much of these installation and basic usage instructions. Should someone need help deploying one of these tools, HPL will probably be useful. Just be sure to verify the material against the documentation provided by the application's authors.

(Disclaimer: I received a free review copy from the publisher.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Old News, September 21, 2005

By	Angry Reader (Ind) - See all my reviews

Don't waste your money on this book, unless you want to go back to older versions of Linux...
Many of the links are gone, many of the programs don't work with the newer versions of Linux (post 2004), and buying this book in September 2005 was basically flushing nearly $50 down the toilet...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the reading., May 28, 2003

By A Customer

Follow simple step by step procedures to hardening your linux system, i was able to read the meat of this book in a 4 hour airplane flight. Easily install and configure Linux, firewalls, etc.