Book Image

Mastering Linux Security and Hardening - Second Edition

By : Donald A. Tevault
Book Image

Mastering Linux Security and Hardening - Second Edition

By: Donald A. Tevault

Overview of this book

From creating networks and servers to automating the entire working environment, Linux has been extremely popular with system administrators for the last couple of decades. However, security has always been a major concern. With limited resources available in the Linux security domain, this book will be an invaluable guide in helping you get your Linux systems properly secured. Complete with in-depth explanations of essential concepts, practical examples, and self-assessment questions, this book begins by helping you set up a practice lab environment and takes you through the core functionalities of securing Linux. You'll practice various Linux hardening techniques and advance to setting up a locked-down Linux server. As you progress, you will also learn how to create user accounts with appropriate privilege levels, protect sensitive data by setting permissions and encryption, and configure a firewall. The book will help you set up mandatory access control, system auditing, security profiles, and kernel hardening, and finally cover best practices and troubleshooting techniques to secure your Linux environment efficiently. By the end of this Linux security book, you will be able to confidently set up a Linux server that will be much harder for malicious actors to compromise.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Section 1: Setting up a Secure Linux System
8
Section 2: Mastering File and Directory Access Control (DAC)
11
Section 3: Advanced System Hardening Techniques

An overview of firewalld

In a typical business setting, especially in larger enterprises, you may encounter various types of firewalld in various places that can provide various types of functionality. Some examples are as follows:

  • Edge devices that separate the internet from an internal network translate routable public IP addresses to non-routable private IP addresses. They can also provide various types of access control to keep out unauthorized people. By also providing various types of packet inspection services, they can help prevent attacks on the internal network, keep out malware, and prevent leakage of sensitive information from the internal network to the internet.
  • Large enterprise networks are normally divided into subnetworks, or subnets, with each corporate department having a subnet to call its own. Best practice dictates separating the subnets with firewalld....