Linux Security Overview, ISSA-PS 2003

This was a two hour[1] presentation given at the ISSA Pugent Sound meeting in July, 2003. At the previous meeting, I asked members what they'd like to learn, and this presentation was tailored to cover the topics that were most frequently requested.

There were many folks who were very unfamilar to how Unix-like systems work at all, so the first two parts concentrate on Linux security for the uninitiated.

Part one, automated hardening.: The use of Bastille Linux.
Part two, manual hardening: Identifying and shutting down network services manually from the command line.
Part three, advanced kernel security: Standard kernel-level security (traditional root vs capabilities), use of Lcap to remove capabilities from the kernel at run time, and alternate security models such as LIDS (Linux Intrusion Detection System) and Systrace.

NOTES:

[1] Normally there are two talks at ISSA, one vendor and one non-vendor. The vendor cancelled at the last minute, so I took over all two hours. Lucky for me, given that I always want to cover far more than I should...

Also, for the several people who enquired after the talk, yes, I am always open to doing Linux/Unix security consulting. If you're interested, just drop me a line.

Presented at ISSA Puget Sound, 2003.