Book Image

Practical Linux Security Cookbook - Second Edition

By : Tajinder Kalsi
Book Image

Practical Linux Security Cookbook - Second Edition

By: Tajinder Kalsi

Overview of this book

Over the last few years, system security has gained a lot of momentum and software professionals are focusing heavily on it. Linux is often treated as a highly secure operating system. However, the reality is that Linux has its share of security ?aws, and these security ?aws allow attackers to get into your system and modify or even destroy your important data. But there’s no need to panic, since there are various mechanisms by which these ?aws can be removed, and this book will help you learn about different types of Linux security to create a more secure Linux system. With a step-by-step recipe approach, the book starts by introducing you to various threats to Linux systems. Then, this book will walk you through customizing the Linux kernel and securing local files. Next, you will move on to managing user authentication both locally and remotely and mitigating network attacks. Later, you will learn about application security and kernel vulnerabilities. You will also learn about patching Bash vulnerability, packet filtering, handling incidents, and monitoring system logs. Finally, you will learn about auditing using system services and performing vulnerability scanning on Linux. By the end of this book, you will be able to secure your Linux systems and create a robust environment.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Contributors
Packt Upsell
Preface
Index

Retrieving the kernel source


Most of the Linux distributions include the kernel sources in them. However, these sources may tend to be a bit out of date. Because of this, you may need to get the latest sources when building or customizing the kernel.

Getting ready

Most of the Linux kernel developer community uses the Git tool for source code management. Even Ubuntu has integrated Git for its own Linux kernel source code, hence enabling the kernel developers to interact better with the community. You can install the Git package using the following command:

sudo apt-get install git

How to do it...

The Linux kernel source code can be downloaded from various sources, and here we will talk about the methods used to download from these sources:

  1. We can find the Linux source code as a complete tarball and also as an incremental patch at the official webpage of the Linux kernel:

http://www.kernel.org

It is always recommended you use the latest version, unless you have a specific reason to work with an older...