Re: Secure host newbie

[Ansgar -59cobalt- Wiechers <bugtraq () planetcobalt net>]

On 2004-03-30 Xilo Musimene wrote:
> >     Have a look at www.linux-sec.net, but you should pay an expert to
> >     help you. Look for someone who will know how to work close to your
> >     budget, there are guys out there who doesn't know how to work
> >     without a big budget. There are a lot of ways to improve security
> >     with low budget, but hire someone to help you.
>
> I'll give that website a thorough shot!
>
> I'm not going to try becoming an expert in just a few days...  But I
> expect I can become fairly expert in specific topics.  Such as
> firewalls; I beleive this topic is fairly small and could be covered
> completely within a few days.

I believe you're in for a surprise ;)

Firewalling (even packet filtering) is a very complex topic and I
seriously doubt you will be able to cover it in just a few days. A few
months at least is much more likely.

I guess you are going to use iptables, so I would recommend [1] as an
introduction into how iptables works. But you will also need thorough
knowledge of how networking (i.e. TCP/IP) works to fully understand what
you are doing (which I would strongly recommend since there are already
enough rooted boxes out there).

[1] http://www.netfilter.org/

Regards
Ansgar Wiechers

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