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Mastering Linux Security and Hardening

You're reading from   Mastering Linux Security and Hardening Protect your Linux systems from intruders, malware attacks, and other cyber threats

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Product type Paperback
Published in Feb 2020
Publisher
ISBN-13 9781838981778
Length 666 pages
Edition 2nd Edition
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Author (1):
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Donald A. Tevault Donald A. Tevault
Author Profile Icon Donald A. Tevault
Donald A. Tevault
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Table of Contents (20) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Section 1: Setting up a Secure Linux System
2. Running Linux in a Virtual Environment FREE CHAPTER 3. Securing User Accounts 4. Securing Your Server with a Firewall - Part 1 5. Securing Your Server with a Firewall - Part 2 6. Encryption Technologies 7. SSH Hardening 8. Section 2: Mastering File and Directory Access Control (DAC)
9. Mastering Discretionary Access Control 10. Access Control Lists and Shared Directory Management 11. Section 3: Advanced System Hardening Techniques
12. Implementing Mandatory Access Control with SELinux and AppArmor 13. Kernel Hardening and Process Isolation 14. Scanning, Auditing, and Hardening 15. Logging and Log Security 16. Vulnerability Scanning and Intrusion Detection 17. Security Tips and Tricks for the Busy Bee 18. Assessments 19. Other Books You May Enjoy

The dangers of logging in as the root user

A huge advantage that Unix and Linux operating systems have over Windows is that Unix and Linux do a much better job of keeping privileged administrative accounts separated from normal user accounts. Indeed, one reason that older versions of Windows were so susceptible to security issues, such as drive-by virus infections, was the common practice of setting up user accounts with administrative privileges, without having the protection of the User Access Control (UAC) that's in newer versions of Windows. (Even with UAC, Windows systems still do get infected, just not quite as often.) With Unix and Linux, it's a lot harder to infect a properly configured system.

You probably already know that the all-powerful administrator account on a Unix or Linux system is the root account. If you're logged in as the root user, you can...

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