Product Description

Computer security is an ongoing process, a relentless contest between system administrators and intruders. A good administrator needs to stay one step ahead of any adversaries, which often involves a continuing process of education. If you're grounded in the basics of security, however, you won't necessarily want a complete treatise on the subject each time you pick up a book. Sometimes you want to get straight to the point. That's exactly what the new "Linux Security Cookbook" does. Rather than provide a total security solution for Linux computers, the authors present a series of easy-to-follow recipes-short, focused pieces of code that administrators can use to improve security and perform common tasks securely. The book includes real solutions to a wide range of targeted problems, such as sending encrypted email within Emacs, restricting access to network services at particular times of day, firewalling a webserver, preventing IP spoofing, setting up key-based SSH authentication, and much more. With over 150 ready-to-use scripts and configuration files, this unique book helps administrators secure their systems without having to look up specific syntax. The book begins with recipes devised to establish a secure system, then moves on to secure day-to-day practices, and concludes with techniques to help your system stay secure. Some of the "recipes" you'll find in this book are: controlling access to your system from firewalls down to individual services, using iptables, ipchains, xinetd, inetd, and more; monitoring your network with tcpdump, dsniff, netstat, and other tools; protecting network connections with Secure Shell (SSH) and stunnel; safeguarding email sessions with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL); encrypting files and email messages with GnuPG; and probing your own security with password crackers, nmap, and handy scripts.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107004 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
"I really enjoyed this book. I think my machine is more secure than before I read this book. The advice is good and pitched at, for me, the right level. References were up-to-date ad far as I could see. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone wanting to secure, or test the esisting security, of a Linux system." - Mick Farmer, Linux Security Cookbook - news@UK, September 2003

From the Publisher
The Linux Security Cookbook includes real solutions to a wide range of targeted problems, such as sending encrypted email within Emacs, restricting access to network services at particular times of day, firewalling a webserver, preventing IP spoofing, setting up key-based SSH authentication, and much more. With over 150 ready-to-use scripts and configuration files, this unique book helps administrators secure their systems without having to look up specific syntax.

About the Author

Richard Silverman first touched a computer as a college junior in 1986, when he logged into a DEC-20, typed MM to send some mail, and was promptly lost to the world. He eventually resurfaced and discovered he had a career, which was convenient but somewhat disorienting, since he hadn't really been looking for one. Since earning his B.A. in computer science and M.A. in pure mathematics, Richard has worked in the fields of networking, formal methods in software development, public-key infrastructure, computer security, and Unix systems administration. He is a co-author on two O'Reilly titles: SSH, The Secure Shell (The Definitive Guide), and the Linux Security Cookbook.

Richard E. Silverman has a B.A. in computer science and an M.A. in pure mathematics. Richard has worked in the fields of networking, formal methods in software development, public-key infrastructure, routing security, and Unix systems administration. He is the co-author of SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide.

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Customer Reviews

All the Right Answers
The way in which the Linux Security Cookbook approaches its subject is ideal. When presented with the problem of securing system(s) in an ever more hostile environment there are a lot of "How do I..." questions asked. The vast majority of the texts available on Security do not take this approach. This book can be dipped into and answers obtained in quick time. You do not need to do vast amounts of reading to get at the answers neither do you need a lot of background knowledge to sensibly implement most of the tasks described.

If you need an in depth analysis of security principles then look elsewhere. The Linux Security Cookbook delivers exactly what it promises, The Answers.