Linux Security Week - September 16th 2002

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

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|  LinuxSecurity.com                            Weekly Newsletter     |
|  September 16th, 2002                         Volume 3, Number 36n  |
|                                                                     |
|  Editorial Team:  Dave Wreski             dave () linuxsecurity com    |
|                   Benjamin Thomas         ben () linuxsecurity com     |
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Thank you for reading the LinuxSecurity.com weekly security newsletter.
The purpose of this document is to provide our readers with a quick
summary of each week's most relevant Linux security headlines.

This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include "Stealthful
Sniffing, Intrusion Detection and Logging," "Evaluating Network Intrusion
Detection Signatures," "The IP Security Protocol," and "Coordinating a
Disaster Plan."

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This week, advisories were released for ethereal, python, cacti,
postgresql, kdelibs, krb5, php, wordtrans, gaim, glibc, util-linux.  The
vendors include Contiva, Debian, Gentoo, Mandrake, and Red Hat.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/forums_article-5695.html


FEATURE: NFS Security - NFS (Network File System) is a widely used and
primitive protocol that allows computers to share files over a network.
The main problems with NFS are that it relies on the inherently insecure
UDP protocol, transactions are not encrypted and hosts and users cannot be
easily authenticated. Below we will show a number of issues that one can
follow to heal those security problems.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/feature_stories/feature_story-118.html


Concerned about the next threat? EnGarde is the undisputed winner!

 Hardened Linux Puts Hackers EnGarde! Winner of the Network Computing
 Editor's Choice Award, EnGarde "walked away with our Editor's Choice
 award thanks to the depth of its security strategy..." Find out what
 the other Linux vendors are not telling you.

  -> http://ads.linuxsecurity.com/cgi-bin/ad_redirect.pl?id=engarde2


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| Host Security News: | <<-----[ Articles This Week ]-------------
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* Web Server Security: Securing Dynamic Web Content
September 12th, 2002

Once upon a time, the World Wide Web was a relatively static place. The
Web server's sole function was to simply deliver a requested Web page,
written in HTML, to a client browser. Over time, developers started
looking for ways to interact with users by providing dynamic content --
that is, content that displayed a form or executed a script based on user
input.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/server_security_article-5689.html


* Securing Debian Manual
September 10th, 2002

This document describes the process of securing and hardening the default
Debian installation. It covers some of the common tasks to setup a secure
network environment using Debian GNU/Linux and also gives additional
information on the security tools available as well as the work done by
the Debian security team.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/documentation_article-5675.html


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| Security Sources News: |
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* OpenSSL Worm Loose in the Wild
September 15th, 2002

There has been credible reports that a worm propagating in the wild is
breaking into servers running vulnerable versions of OpenSSL. Last month,
several critical security issues, including a client-exploitable remote
buffer overflow in the SSLv2 handshake process, were discovered in all
OpenSSL versions prior to 0.9.6e.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/security_sources_article-5699.html

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| Network Security News: |
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* Paranoid Penguin: Stealthful Sniffing, Intrusion Detection and
Logging
September 13th, 2002

In a column about syslog [see "syslog Configuration" in the December 2001
issue of Linux Journal] I mentioned ``stealth logging''--by running your
central log server without an IP address, you can hide your central log
server from intruders. But log servers aren't the only type of system that
can benefit from a little stealth.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/documentation_article-5698.html


* Insecure wireless networks exposed
September 12th, 2002

A local consulting firm launched a controversial Web site yesterday that
shows gaping security holes in hundreds of wireless networks throughout
the downtown core, including many in the financial district and some
government and university areas.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/network_security_article-5691.html


* Evaluating Network Intrusion Detection Signatures, Part 1
September 11th, 2002

Karen Kent Frederick of SecurityFocus writes, "Over the past several
years, a number of academic and commercial entities have conducted
evaluations of various network intrusion detection (NID) software, to
determine the overall effectiveness of each product and to compare the
products to each other.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/intrusion_detection_article-5682.html


* Know Your Enemy: Honeynets
September 11th, 2002

Lance Spitzner let us know about the latest from the Honeynet Project. "A
Honeynet is nothing more then one type of honeypot. Specifically, it is a
high interaction honeypot designed primarily for research, to gather
information on the enemy.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/intrusion_detection_article-5685.html


* Hacking techniques: War dialing
September 11th, 2002

This article looks at a popular form of attack on an organization's
computer network known as war dialing. The term war dialing involves the
exploitation of an organization's telephone, dial, and private branch
exchange (PBX) systems to penetrate internal network and computing
resources.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/hackscracks_article-5683.html


* IDS Installation with Mandrake 8.2
September 10th, 2002

If you have a system or network connected to the Internet, you become a
target. Your network is being scanned for vulnerabilities. This may happen
only once a month or twice a day, regardless, there are people out there
probing your network and systems for weaknesses.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/intrusion_detection_article-5671.html


* The IP Security Protocol, Part 1
September 9th, 2002

Explaining IPSec, different levels of security and how to be safe sending
and receiving packets over the network. .. VPNs (virtual private networks,
i.e., private networks deployed over a public packet infrastructure) are
definitely emerging as the solution of choice for the interconnection of
distant offices belonging to the same company.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/cryptography_article-5665.html


* The IP Security Protocol, Part 2
September 9th, 2002

Encapsulating security payloads, key exchange mechanisms and other
components of establishing secure data transfers.  In Part 2, we move on
to encapsulating security payloads and key exchange mechanisms.  IPSec ESP
format, specified in RFC 2406, provides confidentiality, authenticity and
integrity.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/cryptography_article-5668.html



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|  General:              |
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* The Anti-Spam Cookbook
September 13th, 2002

Just about everyone but native Hawaiians and direct marketers hate spam.
Hawaiians consider Spam--the canned luncheon meat--a staple in cooking,
having developed a number of amazing recipes using it as the main
ingredient .

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/security_sources_article-5697.html


* Kerberos: The watchdog of the Ether
September 12th, 2002

The first computer networks were used to send e-mails and share files and
printers between researchers and corporate employees. In such a scenario
security was not given much thought. Now the computer networks (especially
the Internet) are used by millions for banking, shopping and filing their
tax returns, and network security has become a major problem.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/network_security_article-5694.html


* IT managers cite security and competition when choosing a Linux
system
September 12th, 2002

A Cannes-based private investigator, Alain Stevens, recently switched
computer operating systems from Windows to Linux. "It's a security issue,"
Stevens said. "Viruses which target Windows could send confidential
documents from my machines to random people - and that could send me to
prison."

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/forums_article-5688.html


* The Weakest Link in Disaster Recovery
September 11th, 2002

Much of the focus of disaster recovery planning is on creating redundant
data sites and backup tapes. Very often, a crucial component is
overlooked: that of keeping current documentation for all IT configuration
settings. Having such documentation and the original software discs can
restore a network 40 percent faster than running backup tapes.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/general_article-5681.html


* Computer forensics specialists in demand as hacking grows
September 9th, 2002

"There simply are not enough people to do this work," says Scott Pancoast,
a Seattle-based certified forensic computer examiner with the Washington
state Attorney General's Office.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/intrusion_detection_article-5669.html


* Coordinating a Disaster Plan
September 9th, 2002

In establishing a game plan for organizational disaster recovery
initiatives, there should be synergy between IT operations groups and
lines of business in categorizing applications for business
continuity/disaster recovery and understanding the costs involved.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/security_sources_article-5661.html


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