You're reading from Mastering Linux Security and Hardening A practical guide to protecting your Linux system from cyber attacks

Product type Paperback

Published in Feb 2023

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781837630516

Length 618 pages

Edition 3rd Edition

Languages

Tools

Linux

Concepts

Hardening

Author (1):

Donald A. Tevault

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Table of Contents (22) Chapters

Preface

1. Section 1: Setting up a Secure Linux System

2. Running Linux in a Virtual Environment FREE CHAPTER

3. Securing Administrative User Accounts

4. Securing Normal User Accounts

5. Securing Your Server with a Firewall – Part 1

6. Securing Your Server with a Firewall — Part 2

7. Encryption Technologies

8. SSH Hardening

9. Section 2: Mastering File and Directory Access Control (DAC)

10. Mastering Discretionary Access Control

11. Access Control Lists and Shared Directory Management

12. Section 3: Advanced System Hardening Techniques

13. Implementing Mandatory Access Control with SELinux and AppArmor

14. Kernel Hardening and Process Isolation

15. Scanning, Auditing, and Hardening

16. Logging and Log Security

17. Vulnerability Scanning and Intrusion Detection

18. Prevent Unwanted Programs from Running

19. Security Tips and Tricks for the Busy Bee

20. Other Books You May Enjoy

21. Index

Web server scanning with Nikto

The Greenbone Security Assistant, which we just looked at, is a general-purpose vulnerability scanner. It can find vulnerabilities for most any kind of operating system or for most any server daemon. However, as we’ve just seen, a GSA scan can take a while to run, and it might be more than what you need.

Nikto is a special-purpose tool with only one purpose. That is, it’s meant to scan web servers, and only web servers. It’s easy to install, easy to use, and capable of doing a comprehensive scan of a web server fairly quickly.

Nikto in Kali Linux

If you have Kali Linux, you’ll find that Nikto is already installed under the Vulnerability Analysis menu:

Figure 14.20: Nikto on the Kali Linux menu

However, your best bet is to ignore it, and instead use the more up-to-date version that you’ll download directly from Github. That’s because the Nikto signature database that’s installed...