+---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | LinuxSecurity.com Weekly Newsletter | | May 9th, 2005 Volume 6, Number 20n | | | | Editorial Team: Dave Wreski dave@private | | Benjamin D. Thomas ben@private | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ 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 "Why Snort makes IDS worth the time and effort," "Five Linux Security Myths You Can Live Without," and "Backups tapes a backdoor for identity thieves." --- ## Internet Productivity Suite: Open Source Security ## Trust Internet Productivity Suite's open source architecture to give you the best security and productivity applications available. Collaborating with thousands of developers, Guardian Digital security engineers implement the most technologically advanced ideas and methods into their design. Click to find out more! http://store.guardiandigital.com/html/eng/products/software/ips_overview.shtml --- LINUX ADVISORY WATCH This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include ethereal, prozilla, smartlist, kdewebdev, wireless-tools, gimp, bootparamd, tcpdump, kdelibs, vte, php, words, util-linux, lapack, gnuutils, and glibc. The distributors include Conectiva, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and Red Hat. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119064/150/ --- Review: The Book of Postfix: State-of-the-Art Message Transport I was very impressed with "The Book of Postfix" by authors Ralf Hildebrandt and Pattrick Koetter and feel that it is an incredible Postfix reference. It gives a great overall view of the operation and management of Postfix in an extremely systematic and practical format. It flows in a logical manner, is easy to follow and the authors did a great job of explaining topics with attention paid to real world applications and how to avoid many of the associated pitfalls. I am happy to have this reference in my collection. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119027/49/ --- Introduction: Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities Buffer overflows are a leading type of security vulnerability. This paper explains what a buffer overflow is, how it can be exploited, and what countermeasures can be taken to prevent the use of buffer overflow vulnerabilities. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/118881/49/ --- Getting to Know Linux Security: File Permissions Welcome to the first tutorial in the 'Getting to Know Linux Security' series. The topic explored is Linux file permissions. It offers an easy to follow explanation of how to read permissions, and how to set them using chmod. This guide is intended for users new to Linux security, therefore very simple. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/118181/49/ -------- >> The Perfect Productivity Tools << WebMail, Groupware and LDAP Integration provide organizations with the ability to securely access corporate email from any computer, collaborate with co-workers and set-up comprehensive addressbooks to consistently keep employees organized and connected. http://ads.linuxsecurity.com/cgi-bin/newad_redirect.pl?id=gdn05 --> Take advantage of the LinuxSecurity.com Quick Reference Card! --> http://www.linuxsecurity.com/docs/QuickRefCard.pdf +---------------------+ | Security News: | <<-----[ Articles This Week ]---------- +---------------------+ * Review: Deep Inspection Firewalls 6th, May, 2005 If it were on public display, this portion of our Firewall Blowout would be the geek equivalent of the Chicago Auto Show. Our Chicago Neohapsis partner labs focused on the muscle cars: enterprise-class, gigabit-capable network firewall appliances and turnkey systems that support high-availability stateful failover, VPNs and centralized management as well as DI (deep inspection), which we define as having the ability not only to perform stateful packet filtering, but also to inspect packet payloads higher up the OSI model using specific attack signatures and Layer 7 protocol engines. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119072 * In praise of Gentoo 2nd, May, 2005 On the server end, you get the best release schedule in the business for security updates and bug fixes. On the desktop, you get the latest and greatest packages (if you enable 'beta' packages to be used) like KDE 3.4 (which I'm running), X.org with awesome openGL support, and a nicely compiled nvidia driver. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119029 * From Operating System to Application: Web Survey Looks at Malware Trends 5th, May, 2005 "Two years ago, this list was dominated completely by weaknesses in operating systems," said SANS Institute Director of Research Alan Paller. "Now we're seeing more and more vulnerabilities in applications being exploited." The data also reveal that, for the first time, some security Latest News about Security and anti-virus software is vulnerable to hackers, creating a dangerous high-level backdoor into users' systems. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119058 * Report: IT shops lax about logging 3rd, May, 2005 If a new report from the SANS Institute is any indication, enterprises are jeopardizing security by taking a sloppy approach to log keeping. As a result, the report recommends some companies abandon home-grown logging systems in favor of commercial tools or simply outsource the task. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119043 * Why Snort makes IDS worth the time and effort 5th, May, 2005 The decision of whether to implement an intrusion-detection system (IDS) is a complicated one. Unfortunately, IDS has a well-deserved reputation for requiring a lot of "care and feeding" and commercial systems can be very expensive. However, there is an enterprise-grade open source IDS called Snort that may tip the scales over to a "can't lose" position. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119057 * BlueCat Networks Previews its Proteus Enterprise IP Address Management 3rd, May, 2005 Networks, Inc., a leading provider of simple, secure and affordable network security appliances, today announced that it is previewing Proteus, its new enterprise class Internet protocol (IP) Address Management (IPAM) system at Networld+Interop in booth # 1124. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119041 * Linux Labs International consolidates SELinux with Bproc 6th, May, 2005 Linux Labs International, Inc. ( LLII ), the world leader in Linux-based clustered supercomputer engineering, announced today a key milestone for security in supercomputing technology. With today's release of Nimbus 4.0, its out-of-the-box Linux cluster distribution, the leading Single System Image cluster architecture ( bproc ) is now seamlessly integrated with SELinux, the Security Enhanced Linux platform ( SELinux ). http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119068 * Backups tapes a backdoor for identity thieves 2nd, May, 2005 Large companies are reconsidering their security and backup policies after a handful of financial and information-technology companies have admitted that tapes holding unencrypted customer data have gone missing. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119030 * Netcraft Phishing Site Feed Available 2nd, May, 2005 Netcraft launched an anti-phishing system at the start of 2005: people install a toolbar and effectively become part of a giant neighbourhood watch system whereby the most experienced members of the community can report phishing sites and effectively block them for the rest of the community. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119035 * Infosecurity Europe 2005 Interviews 3rd, May, 2005 Rootsecure.net recently recorded a series of interviews with attendees at .Infosecurity Europe 2005., .Europe's number one, dedicated Information Security event.. Those interviewed include representatives from eEye Digital Security, Zone-H, Forensic Computing Ltd, British Computing Society, and a reformed serial website defacer. They are downloadable in MP3 or OGG Vorbis format http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119039 * China's largest bank switches to Linux 3rd, May, 2005 The Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has decided to switch its servers to the Linux operating system after signing an agreement with Turbolinux. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119040 * Moving IT management to a new paradigm 4th, May, 2005 IT management software ranges from hundreds of point solutions to huge integrated bundles for high-end enterprises. Aiming for a target in between is Robert Fanini, co-founder and CEO of GroundWork Open Source Solutions Inc., a startup in Emeryville, Calif., that has built its simple, low-priced IT management package on open source code. In this interview, Fanini explains how open source will open the eyes of now-doubting chief information officers (CIOs). http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119048 * Is VoIP Service the Next Big Target for Hackers? 5th, May, 2005 Internet telephone service's appeal as a cutting-edge technology for cutting phone costs is convincing more and more people to ditch their landlines and go hi-tech with Voice over Internet Protocol. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119056 * Five Linux Security Myths You Can Live Without 6th, May, 2005 Before I wrote this article, I went to some Linux newsgroups to find out what typical concerns among security-conscious Linux users might be. I asked, simply, what they felt were the biggest myths surrounding Linux security. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119065 * Sober Hasn't Slowed, Still Accounts For Four Of Five Worms And Viruses 6th, May, 2005 Sober.p, the worm that stormed the Internet Monday, showed no signs of fading away as of Thursday morning, an anti-virus vendor said. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119066 * Business inaction could lead to data privacy laws 2nd, May, 2005 U.S. businesses for years have urged the government to let them set computer-security standards of their own, but their inability to do so could now prompt Congress to step in, experts say. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119031 * House subcommittee elevates cybersecurity position 6th, May, 2005 A bill that would create a high-level cybersecurity official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was approved Wednesday by a House of Representatives subcommittee. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119071 * How a Bookmaker and a Whiz Kid Took On an Extortionist . and Won 3rd, May, 2005 The e-mail began, "Your site is under attack," and it gave Mickey Richardson two choices: "You can send us $40K by Western Union [and] your site will be protected not just this weekend but for the next 12 months," or, "If you choose not to pay...you will be under attack each weekend for the next 20 weeks, or until you close your doors." http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119042 * Hackers Widen Their Attacks 4th, May, 2005 Hackers continue to develop new ways to infiltrate computer systems, staying one step ahead of software providers by targeting an array of applications, according to a recent report from the SANS Institute Latest News about SANS Institute. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119047 * Spying on the spyware makers 5th, May, 2005 The 25-year-old researcher has spent years analyzing how spyware and adware programs work and publicizing his findings. That often results in red faces and, occasionally, lawsuit threats from companies like WhenU and Claria, formerly known as Gator. http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119059 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Distributed by: Guardian Digital, Inc. LinuxSecurity.com To unsubscribe email newsletter-request@private with "unsubscribe" in the subject of the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _________________________________________ InfoSec News v2.0 - Coming Soon! http://www.infosecnews.org
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