Network & server security

[dEPRESChn]

Are there any good resources on net that would describe how do you check if your network or server is secured?

Is it enough to patch programs with latest patchs ?

[astcell]

Anytime I think I know my stuff I run over to grc.com to have my ports probed.

[dEPRESChn]

Oh.. My appologies.. I have Red Hat 8.0 for server and WinXP. They are networked.

[skroo]

Oh.. My appologies.. I have Red Hat 8.0 for server and WinXP. They are networked.

See: http://www.nessus.org/ .

[dEPRESChn]

Thanks.. That's lot of help..


Off-topic: I'm here on this forum just for a week and it's the best :)

[highwizard]

Thanks.. That's lot of help..


Off-topic: I'm here on this forum just for a week and it's the best :)

How secure are you talking about?

[dEPRESChn]

I'm talking about secured that i'm not hackable by some lame script kiddie. :)

I got AV Norton 2002 and firewall on linux server ( rc.firewall i think )

[highwizard]

I'm talking about secured that i'm not hackable by some lame script kiddie. :)

Private Network at your House/Office?

[dEPRESChn]

Home network.. just 2 computers one running rh8 and one winxp (pro.. doesn't matters wins are lame, but i can't live without games :) )

Tell me something.. if i'm running samba and just 1 folder is shared on win computer are there big chances if someone hack into linux server that would hack into xp trough it ? Can he/she :) get root on xp ?


p.s.
(And excuse my poor english :) )

[skroo]

I got AV Norton 2002 and firewall on linux server ( rc.firewall i think )

Norton's a good start for the client machines. Keep it up-to-date and enable auto-protect. Also run Ad-Aware and Spybot (keep them updated as well), which will help.

rc.firewall just starts iptables (possibly ipchains; I forget which one RH8 was using by default, though I suspect it was still ipchains) and adds some static rules to it. It doesn't perform other firewalling functions like stateful inspection or dynamic blocking. Still, though, it's better than nothing.

[dEPRESChn]

I run this FW http://projectfiles.com/firewall/

Is it spyware dangerous in some way ? (I agree that everyone has a bad feeling when you don't know if someone is spying on you.. )

What about *nix AV ? Are there any? Are they necesary? .. Because i never heard for virus that infects linux (you can say that i'm noob.. but i'm learning very fast and i'm just 18yo)

Tnx

[sysctl]

I run this FW http://projectfiles.com/firewall/

looks ok. does (some) stateful inspection/dynamic filtering. i assume the linux box is performing some sort of NAT/IP masquerading for the windows xp box? if it is then you should be ok, providing your linux box doesn't get compromised. fwiw, one problem i often come across when it comes to network security is the fact that most people tend to rely on the device performing NAT to secure their network or they only implement ingress filtering. egress filtering can be just as important. usually the better firewalls implement both stateful inspection and proxying as well.

What about *nix AV ? Are there any? Are they necesary? .. Because i never heard for virus that infects linux

they do exist. f-prot, panda, et al. i don't suggest panda AV (though it looks like they finally got around to fixing that sql injection vuln on their site). the reason why you rarely hear about viruses for linux is because it is much more difficult for them to propagate; virtually rendering antivirus software unnecessary. sandboxing, chroot environments, ACLs, etc. that being said, the majority of the time AV software, from what i've seen, is usually only deployed on, for example, *nix mail servers for windows clients. the threat is still out there though, and very real. trojans in particular are a real nuissance. fortunately IDS (either HIDS or NIDS) can usually mitigate this threat by comparing md5 checksums, especially in collaboration with other techniques and filtering based on source/dest addresses.

(you can say that i'm noob.. but i'm learning very fast and i'm just 18yo)

i know people who've been hacking their whole life, and i know people who were just getting started in their early 50's. i say you've got plenty of time. just don't spread yourself thin.:)

[dEPRESChn]

I want to be a hacker.. Not a bad guy who hacks, destroys or do some bad things. I want to know security, networking, *nix OS etc.

Maybe i'll have luck and someday i will do this for survival. But, in slovenia this is rare. Maybe i'll have luck. :)


p.s.

Do you know any free interesintg e-books? (security, *nix, networking etc. that would describe this. Maybe with some excercises or what.. )

[highwizard]

I want to be a hacker.. Not a bad guy who hacks, destroys or do some bad things. I want to know security, networking, *nix OS etc.

Maybe i'll have luck and someday i will do this for survival. But, in slovenia this is rare. Maybe i'll have luck. :)


p.s.

Do you know any free interesintg e-books? (security, *nix, networking etc. that would describe this. Maybe with some excercises or what.. )

You can find some good information online for free, however, if you really want to learn I would recommended purchasing some books.. Before you ask what books to purchase, I will just say this topic has been discussed on a few occassions. But you really need to figure out what you want to learn first. There is a lot of information on different subjects out there and you need to narrow the range down.

The Search Function works wonders

[dEPRESChn]

What to learn first is a difficult qusteion. You people have experience i think. What should i learn first? Networks, security, unix based os? What should i learn to understand internet, network, security and all of that connected togheter?