[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]
“Ask anyone about Benjamin Franklin, and you’ll likely
hear about his experiments with electricity, his participation in
the founding of the United States, and his invention of bifocals
(see Figure 1). Less well known but nonetheless impressive,
Franklin also advocated the adoption of paper currency, printed
money with innovative anti-counterfeiting techniques, established
the United States Postal Service, and formed the colonies’ first
fire department–the Union Fire Company– Philadelphia in 1736. In
fact, centuries before Smokey the Bear, Franklin proffered sound
fire safety advice, famously stating, “An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.” Wise words and pertinent to this very
day–espcially if you’re a UNIX systems administrator.“Franklin on security
“Distrust and caution are the parents of security.” Keeping a
system secure is difficult. There are no magic bullets and no
product you can purchase and install to definitively protect
against all threats. Instead, defending a system requires constant
vigilance to create, find, apply, test, and adjust any number of
individual measures. (A little) paranoia is also healthy.“Acknowledging the ephemeral nature of security, Franklin
cheekily said, “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”
Here are some actions you can take to better protect your
system:”