Linux Security Books

Linux Pocket Guide

Daniel J. Barrett

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> Linux -> Networking & System Administration
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not for beginners 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

While this may be an excellent reference for experienced Linux users, it will be of very limited use for beginners or those who use Linux through a graphical interface. It is also specifically directed towards Fedora. It would be helpful if your descriptive blurb on the book revealed these two facts.

Editorial Review:

Linux Pocket Guide gets you up to speed quickly on day-to-day Linux use. It's organized the way you use Linux: by function, not just alphabetically. It's not the 'bible of Linux; it's a practical and concise guide to the options and commands you need most. It starts with general concepts like files and directories, the shell, and X windows, and then presents detailed overviews of the most essential commands, with clear examples. You'll learn each command's purpose, usage, options, location on disk, and even the RPM package that installed it. The Linux Pocket Guide is tailored to Fedora Linux--the latest spin-off of Red Hat Linux--but most of the information applies to any Linux system. Throw in a host of valuable power user tips and a friendly and accessible style, and you'll quickly find this practical, to-the-point book a small but mighty resource for Linux users.

Linux Server Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools

Rob Flickenger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Setting up and maintaining a Linux server requires understanding not only the hardware, but the ins and outs of the Linux operating system along with its supporting cast of utilities as well as layers of applications software. There's basic documentation online but there's a lot beyond the basics you have to know, and this only comes from people with hands-on, real-world experience. This kind of "know how" is what we sought to capture in Linux Server Hacks. Linux Server Hacks is a collection of 100 industrial-strength hacks, providing tips and tools that solve practical problems for Linux system administrators. Every hack can be read in just a few minutes but will save hours of searching for the right answer. Some of the hacks are subtle, many of them are non-obvious, and all of them demonstrate the power and flexibility of a Linux system. You'll find hacks devoted to tuning the Linux kernel to make your system run more efficiently, as well as using CVS or RCS to track the revision to system files. You'll learn alternative ways to do backups, how to use system monitoring tools to track system performance and a variety of secure networking solutions. Linux Server Hacks also helps you manage large-scale Web installations running Apache, MySQL, and other open source tools that are typically part of a Linux system. O'Reilly's new Hacks Series proudly reclaims the term "hacking" for the good guys. Hackers use their ingenuity to solve interesting problems.

Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two: Tips & Tools for Connecting, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting (Hacks)

William von Hagen, Brian Jones

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Today's system administrators deal with a vast number of situations, operating systems, software packages, and problems. Those who are in the know have kept their copy of Linux Server Hacks close at hand to ease their burden. And while this helps, it's not enough: any sys admin knows there are many more hacks, cool tips, and ways of solving problems than can fit in a single volume (one that mere mortals can lift, that is).

Which is why we created Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two, a second collection of incredibly useful tips and tricks for finding and using dozens of open source tools you can apply to solve your sys admin problems. The power and flexibility of Linux and Open Source means that there is an astounding amount of great software out there waiting to be applied to your sys admin problems -- if only you knew about it and had enough information to get started. Hence, Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two.

This handy reference offers 100 completely new server management tips and techniques designed to improve your productivity and sharpen your administrative skills. Each hack represents a clever way to accomplish a specific task, saving you countless hours of searching for the right answer. No more sifting through man pages, HOWTO websites, or source code comments -- the only resource you need is right here. And you don't have to be a system administrator with hundreds of boxen to get something useful from this book as many of the hacks apply equally well to a single system or a home network.

Compiled by experts, these hacks not only give you the step-by-step instructions necessary to implement the software, but they also provide the context to truly enable you to learn the technology. Topics include:

• Authentication
• Remote GUI connectivity
• Storage management
• File sharing and synchronizing resources
• Security/lockdown instruction
• Log files and monitoring
• Troubleshooting
• System rescue, recovery, and repair

Whether they help you recover lost data, collect information from distributed clients, or synchronize administrative environments, the solutions found in Linux Server Hacks, Volume Two will simplify your life as a system administrator.

Linux iptables Pocket Reference

Gregor N. Purdy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Firewalls, Network Address Translation (NAT), and network logging and accounting are all provided by Linux's Netfilter system, also known by the name of the command used to administer it, iptables. The iptables interface is the most sophisticated ever offered on Linux and makes Linux an extremely flexible system for any kind of network filtering you might do. Large sets of filtering rules can be grouped in ways that makes it easy to test them and turn them on and off.

Do you watch for all types of ICMP traffic--some of them quite dangerous? Can you take advantage of stateful filtering to simplify the management of TCP connections? Would you like to track how much traffic of various types you get?

This pocket reference will help you at those critical moments when someone asks you to open or close a port in a hurry, either to enable some important traffic or to block an attack. The book will keep the subtle syntax straight and help you remember all the values you have to enter in order to be as secure as possible. The listings of all iptables options are divided into those suitable for firewalling, accounting, and NAT.

Linux Enterprise Cluster: Build a Highly Available Cluster with Commodity Hardware and Free Software

Karl Kopper

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Linux Enterprise Cluster explains how to take a number of inexpensive computers with limited resources, place them on a normal computer network, and install free software so that the computers act together like one powerful server. This makes it possible to build a very inexpensive and reliable business system for a small business or a large corporation. The book includes information on how to build a high-availability server pair using the Heartbeat package, how to use the Linux Virtual Server load balancing software, how to configure a reliable printing system in a Linux cluster environment, and how to build a job scheduling system in Linux with no single point of failure. The book also includes information on high availability techniques that can be used with or without a cluster, making it helpful for System Administrators even if they are not building a cluster. Anyone interested in deploying Linux in an environment where low cost computer reliability is important will find this book useful. The CD-ROM includes the Linux kernel, ldirectord software, the Mon monitoring package, the Ganglia package, OpenSSH, rsync, SystemImager, Heartbeat, and all the figures and illustrations used in the book.

Running Linux

Matthias Dalheimer, Matt Welsh

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 133 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Linux operating system has made a lot of progress in the past few years, and Running Linux has progressed right along with it to remain the single best general-purpose book for curious computer users who want to install, use, and enjoy Linux. The team of authors present a text that's simultaneously detailed and readable. Coupled with an inquisitive and capable reader, that's a recipe for success with the world's most popular open-source operating system. This new edition adds coverage of the GNOME desktop environment, the Apache/MySQL/PHP server suite, and the Postfix mail transfer daemon. It also covers core capabilities and behaviors of Linux through kernel version 2.4. There's better coverage of network security (including firewalling and ADSL link configuration), and coverage of how to set up audio-related hardware and software.

Perhaps best of all, this book conveys a sense of the "Linux attitude" as the authors see it. Linux, they say, is largely about experimentation, research, trial and error, and participation in a community. This comes in welcome contrast to books that focus on recipes (follow these steps to accomplish A; do these things to make your system do B). Though the authors of this book provide lots of how-to information, it's always presented with an eye toward further exploration. In explaining how to build the kernel, for example, the authors provide six concise steps as a reference, but then go on for several pages about designing makefiles and how to deal with error messages. This book's a treat. --David Wall

Topics covered: Assuming you know next to nothing about Linux, socially and historically as well as technically, this book teaches you what you need to know to make the operating system meet your desktop and server computing requirements. Coverage takes you from preparing to install Linux (in a multi-OS environment if you wish), continues through system administration and the most useful applications (like TeX and Internet clients), and proceeds to cover programming tools and server daemons (notably Apache, MySQL, and PHP). The coverage is mostly generic, but peculiarities of Red Hat, SuSE, and Debian get attention, too.

Linux Firewalls: Attack Detection and Response with iptables, psad, and fwsnort

Michael Rash

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

One of the best technical books published in 2007 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Disclaimer: I wrote the foreword for this book, so obviously I am biased. However, I am not financially compensated for this book's success.

In the foreword I note that Linux Firewalls is a "great book." As a FreeBSD user, Linux Firewalls is good enough to make me consider using Linux in certain circumstances! Mike's book is exceptionally clear, organized, concise, and actionable. You should be able to read it and implement everything you find by following his examples. You will not only learn tools and techniques, but you will be able to appreciate Mike's keen defensive insights.

The majority of the world's digital security professionals focus on defense, because offense is left to the bad guys, police, and military. I welcome books like Linux Firewalls that bring real defensive tools and techniques to the masses in a form that can be digested and deployed for minimum cost and effort.

One of the main reasons Linux Firewalls is a great book is that Mike Rash is an excellent writer. I've read (or tried to read) plenty of books that seemed to offer helpful content, but the author had no clue how to deliver that content in a readable manner. Linux Firewalls makes learning network security an enjoyable experience. Mike is exceptionally detail-oriented (see the RST vs RST ACK issue on p 63 and elsewhere) and he often cites sources and additional references. Linux Firewalls very nicely integrates sample network traffic to make numerous points; Ch 11 has several great examples. The sections on Fwsnort even improved my understanding of Snort itself.

The bottom line is that if you are a user of non-Microsoft operating systems (Linux, BSD, etc.) and you want to know how Linux can help defend your network, you will enjoy reading Linux Firewalls.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5: Administration Security Desktop

Richard L Petersen

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Editorial Review:

This book is designed as an administration, security, and desktop reference for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. Administration tools are covered as well as the underlying configuration files and system implementations. Desktop and shell operations are also examined. Topics covered include user management, devices, kernel customization, software installs, virtualization, services, monitoring, shell configuration, encryption, authentication, SELinux, firewalls, file systems, RAID and LVM, desktop preferences, GNOME, KDE, desktop applications, shared folders, shell commands, and printers. Coverage includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 and 5.2. Installation and setup are also covered.

UNIX and Linux Forensic Analysis DVD Toolkit

Chris Pogue, Cory Altheide, Todd Haverkos

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This book addresses topics in the area of forensic analysis of systems running on variants of the UNIX operating system, which is the choice of hackers for their attack platforms. According to a 2007 IDC report, UNIX servers account for the second-largest segment of spending (behind Windows) in the worldwide server market with $4.2 billion in 2Q07, representing 31.7% of corporate server spending. UNIX systems have not been analyzed to any significant depth largely due to a lack of understanding on the part of the investigator, an understanding and knowledge base that has been achieved by the attacker. The companion DVD provides a simulated or "live" UNIX environment where readers can test the skills they've learned in the book and use custom tools developed by the authors.

The book begins with a chapter to describe why and how the book was written, and for whom, and then immediately begins addressing the issues of live response (volatile) data collection and analysis. The book continues by addressing issues of collecting and analyzing the contents of physical memory (i.e., RAM). The following chapters address /proc analysis, revealing the wealth of significant evidence, and analysis of files created by or on UNIX systems. Then the book addresses the underground world of UNIX hacking and reveals methods and techniques used by hackers, malware coders, and anti-forensic developers. The book then illustrates to the investigator how to analyze these files and extract the information they need to perform a comprehensive forensic analysis. The final chapter includes a detailed discussion of Loadable Kernel Modules and Malware. The companion DVD provides a simulated or "live" UNIX environment where readers can test the skills they've learned in the book and use custom tools developed by the authors.

Throughout the book the author provides a wealth of unique information, providing tools, techniques and information that won't be found anywhere else. Not only are the tools provided, but the author also provides sample files so that after completing a detailed walk-through, the reader can immediately practice the new-found skills.

* The companion DVD for the book contains significant, unique materials (movies, spreadsheet, code, etc.) not available any place else.
* This book contains information about UNIX forensic analysis that is not available anywhere else. Much of the information is a result of the author?s own unique research and work.
* The authors have the combined experience of Law Enforcement, Military, and Corporate forensics. This unique perspective makes this book attractive to ALL forensic investigators.

Hardening Linux

James Turnbull

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hardening Linux by James Turnbull belongs on the shelf of anyone who installs and maintains Linux servers.

— Ray Lodato, Slashdot Contributor

I felt like I learned more about Linux reading this book than I've learned during the last year at work.

— Lasse Koskela, JavaRanch Sheriff

I think Hardening Linux may be the best example I've seen of a practical book on the subject.

— Anomaly - G. Wade Johnson

I was a bit surprised when I scanned the table of contents. The first thought in my head was, 'hey, this has everything in it.' And it does.

— Joe Topjian, Adminspotting.net

"Hardening" is the process of protecting a system and its applications against unknown threats. Hardening Linux identifies many of the risks of running Linux hosts and applications and provides practical examples and methods to minimize those risks. The book is written for Linux/UNIX administrators who do not necessarily have in-depth knowledge of security but need to know how to secure their networks.

In this book, you'll learn how to secure:

• The base operating system and firewall with iptables
• Connections to your hosts
• Fie systems and files
• Email servers
• IMAP and POP servers
• FTP servers

A quick reference of the procedures discussed in each chapter are summarized in Appendix C.