“This article is the first in a three-part series that provides
a blueprint for setting up a multifunctional firewall and server.
You’ll want to do this if you don’t want to spend the resources to
have one computer act as a Web server, another as a print server,
yet another as a firewall, and so on. Whether you’re concerned
about increasing the security level at your small business or
setting up a firewall and IP Masquerading server at home, these
articles will show you the steps we took to replace an old server
with a multifunction server and firewall. After reading the
series, you should be able to configure a functional firewall and
server that provides basic Internet services while maintaining a
moderate level of security….“
“Before deciding what to do, we performed a simple security
needs analysis. Our client is a small software engineering firm
with virtually no valuable hardware. Its primary asset is its
source code and hence the primary risk is the loss or damage of
that source code. The client’s second main risk is the amount of
time that would be wasted in cleaning up after a break-in: finding
backdoors and eliminating them, reinstalling operating systems,
analyzing logs, and so on.”
“To manage those risks, we decided to take several steps. First,
we would separate the CVS server function from the firewall
function, thus rendering the client’s source code less vulnerable.
We would institute nightly backups of the source code in order to
minimize potential losses. Finally, we would improve overall site
security by installing a new firewall with fewer services to
compromise.”