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.

LinuxSecurity.com Feature Extras:

Peter Smith Releases Linux Network Security Online - Thanks so much to Peter Smith for announcing on linuxsecurity.com the release of his Linux Network Security book available free online. "In 2005 I wrote a book on Linux security. 8 years later and the publisher has gone out of business. Now that I'm free from restrictions on reproducing material from the book, I have decided to make the entire book available online."

Securing a Linux Web Server - With the significant prevalence of Linux web servers globally, security is often touted as a strength of the platform for such a purpose. However, a Linux based web server is only as secure as its configuration and very often many are quite vulnerable to compromise. While specific configurations vary wildly due to environments or specific use, there are various general steps that can be taken to insure basic security considerations are in place.

  (Apr 30)
 

Security experts have expressed doubts about a hacker claim that there's a new vulnerability in the patched version of OpenSSL, the widely used cryptographic library repaired in early April. A group of five hackers writes in a posting on Pastebin that they worked for two weeks to find the bug and developed code to exploit it. They've offered the code for the price of 2.5 bitcoins, around US$870.
  Script fools n00b hackers into hacking themselves (May 2)
 

Security experts have warned Facebook users in India not to fall for a new scam which tricks victims into "self cross-site scripting" by promising access to a tool which will let them hack their friends' accounts.
  Hackers Can Mess With Traffic Lights to Jam Roads and Reroute Cars (Apr 30)
 

The hacker in the Italian Job did it spectacularly. So did the fire sale team in Live Free or Die Hard. But can hackers really hijack traffic lights to cause gridlock and redirect cars?
  Security guru: You can't blame EDWARD SNOWDEN for making US clouds LOOK leaky (Apr 30)
 

Accusations that the revelations from rogue National Security Agency sysadmin whistleblower Edward Snowden have damaged the US technology industry are misplaced, according to influential security guru Mikko Hypponen.
  Hacker takes control of Ohio couple's baby monitor and screams 'bad things' (Apr 28)
 

The parents of a 10-month-old baby in Ohio were left reeling when an unknown hacker took control of the infant's baby monitor and screamed "obscenities".
  Internet Explorer bug used by hackers to attack U.S. firms (Apr 28)
 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security advised computer users to consider using alternatives to Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer browser until the company fixes a security flaw that hackers have used to launch attacks.
  After Heartbleed, NSA reveals some flaws are kept secret (Apr 29)
 

It's no secret that the National Security Agency is full of secrets. But, in a rare move, the White House disclosed Monday a bit more about how the NSA works.
  Heartbleed postmortem: OpenSSL's license discouraged scrutiny (May 2)
 

Weeks after the OpenSSL debacle, the question still stands: Why did so few people show up to work on such widely-used and important code? Since the problem arose, funds have flowed in to fix it at the behest of corporate giants, but before the crises, few volunteers participated. One leading open source expert has suggested a reason: licensing.
  Analysis of the FBI's Failure to Stop the Boston Marathon Bombings (May 2)
 

Two opposite mistakes in an after-the-fact review of a terrorist incident are equally damaging. One is to fail to recognize the powerful difference between foresight and hindsight in evaluating how an investigative or intelligence agency should have behaved.
  Hacker claim about bug in post-Heartbleed OpenSSL encryption likely a scam (Apr 28)
 

Security experts have expressed doubts about a hacker claim that there's a new vulnerability in the patched version of OpenSSL, the widely used cryptographic library repaired in early April.
  (May 5)
 

Everyone who has studied mathematics at the movie theater knows that encryption is pretty boss. Practically every spy in every spy movie looks at an encrypted file with fear and dread. Armies of ninjas can be fought. Bombs can be defused. Missiles can be diverted.
  Don't punish Heartbleed hacker