Linux Journal: Security Tools in Linux Distributions, Parts I & II

“With so many security tools available, it can be hard to know
what to use. Many users do not want to be bothered with
downloading, learning and configuring security software when so
many other things need to be done. The good news is tools that
system administrators would manually install, and checks that they
would write scripts to do as part of a security audit, are
available out of the box in Linux distributions.

“People rarely notice the security enhancements until they start
receiving security reports or until they have been hacked. Most of
the time, security features are the last bullets on the marketing
material and glossed over in product reviews. Although many reviews
of each distribution appear with each new release, none seem to
focus much on the security tools.

“This article, presented in two parts, is an overview of the
security enhancements of two Linux distributions, Red Hat 7.3 and
SuSE 8.0, and of how to maximize security simply by selecting and
using the software provided in the distribution. It should be noted
at the start that security is an ongoing process, and no one
program can keep a system completely secure. But you can get a head
start by starting with a secure distribution and using good tools
that are readily available…”

Complete Story
(Part I)

Complete Story
(Part II)