Hi Ben, The most important thing is to not hook your box up to the internet (except through a well-configured firewall) until you are confident with the security! Use a disk or CD to transfer RPMs to the box.
I find the default configuration for RH9 is pretty good, but definitely needs some tweaking depending on your specific requirements. You should read about iptables and xinetd (both are installed by default for RH9). Basically, search google for 'iptables howto' or 'xinetd' to get some good docs on these. These can be used to secure your box from outside interference. After that, it depends on what you are using your machine for. In general, you want the least amount of 'stuff' possible, as the more programs the more security holes that could exist. If you don't need an FTP server, don't install one. Same with sendmail (especially!) and telnet. If you want to install these and play around with them go ahead, just don't open the port(s) these programs use to the Internet. Use SSH wherever possible (www.ssh.com/products/ or many others). Don't forget to keep your computer up to date (possibly using up2date or apt-get). There are a bunch of Linux newbie sites on the internet, although some of the better ones I used a few years ago are painfully out of date... Good luck! David Message: 9 Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 18:29:06 +0100 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Security question Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, I'm a bit of a linux newbie. Out of the box, what should be the first things I do/learn/disable to secure my box? Is there anything I could run or look out for to indicate a hack of any kind? I guess this is asked a lot. If so, could anyone point me to any relevant resources? Thanks Ben -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
