Book Image

Mastering Linux Security and Hardening - Third Edition

By : Donald A. Tevault
3.7 (7)
Book Image

Mastering Linux Security and Hardening - Third Edition

3.7 (7)
By: Donald A. Tevault

Overview of this book

The third edition of Mastering Linux Security and Hardening is an updated, comprehensive introduction to implementing the latest Linux security measures, using the latest versions of Ubuntu and AlmaLinux. In this new edition, you will learn how to set up a practice lab, create user accounts with appropriate privilege levels, protect sensitive data with permissions settings and encryption, and configure a firewall with the newest firewall technologies. You’ll also explore how to use sudo to set up administrative accounts with only the privileges required to do a specific job, and you’ll get a peek at the new sudo features that have been added over the past couple of years. You’ll also see updated information on how to set up a local certificate authority for both Ubuntu and AlmaLinux, as well as how to automate system auditing. Other important skills that you’ll learn include how to automatically harden systems with OpenSCAP, audit systems with auditd, harden the Linux kernel configuration, protect your systems from malware, and perform vulnerability scans of your systems. As a bonus, you’ll see how to use Security Onion to set up an Intrusion Detection System. By the end of this new edition, you will confidently be able to set up a Linux server that will be secure and harder for malicious actors to compromise.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
1
Section 1: Setting up a Secure Linux System
9
Section 2: Mastering File and Directory Access Control (DAC)
12
Section 3: Advanced System Hardening Techniques
20
Other Books You May Enjoy
21
Index

Introducing quantum-resistant encryption algorithms

You’ve likely heard of quantum computers, which have nothing to do with the old Quantum Leap show on television. This new type of computer is still in the experimental stage, and likely will remain there for some time to come. Still, there’s a lot of hype about what they’ll be like when they finally are ready for production use. Supposedly, they’ll be way more powerful than the current generation of computers, and they’ll supposedly be able to easily crack even the strongest of the current encryption algorithms. Indeed, that’s a rather scary prediction. (Perhaps it’s fitting that I’m typing this on Halloween, the scariest day of the year.)

Even though there’s some skepticism about whether this dire prediction will come true, or whether production-grade quantum computers will even see the light of day, the U.S. federal government is taking this seriously. Here’...