Re: [gentoo-user] Protecting my server against an individual

[Thomas Cort <tcort@gentoo.org>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1253 bytes --]

On Tue, 4 Jul 2006 15:56:02 -0700
Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> It has come to my attention that a particular person I know may be
> intent on attacking my server/website in any way possible.  He doesn't
> know much about Linux but does know Windows.  What kind of things
> should I lock down to protect my remote hosted server?

Locking down ssh is a must. There are thousands of computers scanning
the internet attempting to log into any computer running sshd by using
brute force (dictionary) attacks. Just look at /var/log/sshd/current
and you will see ;) Luckily, this is pretty easy to protect against.
In /etc/ssh/sshd_config set PermitRootLogin to 'no' or
'without-password' (without-password means using key based
authentication). `emerge denyhosts`, configure it
in /etc/denyhosts.conf, start it up, and added it to the default run
level. It should be noted that this only goes so far. You need good
passwords too. Passwords should be at least 7 characters long and
contain upper and lower case with punctuation. You can check for weak
passwords with a package called johntheripper. Making sure your
software is up to date is also critical. Web-apps are especially prone
to security holes.

Good Luck!
-tcort

[-- Attachment #2: Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 191 bytes --]