This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include "Linux kernel to include IPv6 firewall," "," and "Honeypot Project finds decline in Linux attacks."


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!

LINUX ADVISORY WATCH - This week, advisories were released for emacs, gftp, bidwatcher, mailman, squid, mod_python, kdeedu, gamin, pcmcia, openssh, postgresql, gimp, midnight commander, gproftpd, cyrus imap, cups, kdelibs, xpdf, uim, cpio, and vim. The distributors include Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Mandrake, Red Hat, and SuSE.

LinuxSecurity.com Feature Extras:

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.

The Tao of Network Security Monitoring: Beyond Intrusion Detection - The Tao of Network Security Monitoring is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date sources available on the subject. It gives an excellent introduction to information security and the importance of network security monitoring, offers hands-on examples of almost 30 open source network security tools, and includes information relevant to security managers through case studies, best practices, and recommendations on how to establish training programs for network security staff.

Encrypting Shell Scripts - Do you have scripts that contain sensitive information like passwords and you pretty much depend on file permissions to keep it secure? If so, then that type of security is good provided you keep your system secure and some user doesn't have a "ps -ef" loop running in an attempt to capture that sensitive info (though some applications mask passwords in "ps" output).

Bulletproof Virus Protection - Protect your network from costly security breaches with Guardian Digital’s multi-faceted security applications. More then just an email firewall, on demand and scheduled scanning detects and disinfects viruses found on the network. Click to find out more!

Take advantage of our Linux Security discussion list! This mailing list is for general security-related questions and comments. To subscribe send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with "subscribe" as the subject.

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 headline.


Knoppix Hacks
21st, February, 2005

Many people, at least people in the techno-geek world, are familiar with Knoppix at least far enough to know it is a version of Linux. Some of those people may even know that it is a portable version of Linux that is able to boot entirely from the CD without the need for any installation. But, this book will show those people just how versatile and powerful a tool Knoppix can be- even for supporting and maintaining Windows systems.

HITB E-Zine: Issue #36 Released
20th, February, 2005

After a nice Chinese New Year break we are pleased to bring you Issue #36 of the HITB e-zine. This is a pretty interesting issue with an exclusive article on Red Hat PIE Protection written by Zarul Shahrin as well as an article on building a simple wireless authenticated gateway using OpenBSD by Rosli Sukri (member of the HITB CTF Crew).

Linux kernel to include IPv6 firewall
21st, February, 2005

Version 2.6.12 of the Linux kernel is likely to include packet filtering that will work with IPv6, the latest version of the Internet Protocol. Netfilter/iptables, the firewall engine that is part of the Linux kernel, already allows stateless packet filtering for versions 4 and 6 of the Internet protocol, but only allows stateful packet filtering for IPv4. Stateful packet filtering is the more secure method, since it analyses whole streams of packets, rather than only checking the headers of individual packets -- as is done in stateless packet filtering.

news/firewall/linux-kernel-to-include-ipv6-firewall
Firewall Builder 2.0.6
24th, February, 2005

Firewall Builder consists of an object-oriented GUI and a set of policy compilers for various firewall platforms. In Firewall Builder, a firewall policy is a set of rules; each rule consists of abstract objects that represent real network objects and services (hosts, routers, firewalls, networks, protocols).

news/firewall/firewall-builder-206
Automated Patching: An Easier Approach to Managing Your Network Security
22nd, February, 2005

Patch management is an essential administration task within todayÕs busy IT networks with the constant threat of new security bugs. Some companies will wait for an attack before taking necessary action to protect themselves from further threat whilst others consider patching as often as possible.

Security holes affect multiple Linux/Unix products
23rd, February, 2005

Attackers could launch malicious code by exploiting vulnerabilities in a file transferring tool used in many Linux and Unix systems, according to two security firms. Reston, Va.-based iDefense said the security holes exist in cURL/libcURL, a command line tool for transferring files with a URL syntax such as FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, GOPHER, TELNET, DICT, FILE and LDAP.

Zen and the Art of Intrusion Detection
22nd, February, 2005

If a tree falls in a forest with no-one to hear it, does it make a sound? So goes a typical zen-like philosophical question. While it's thought-provoking, what does it have to do with Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)? Simple