Chapter 13. Security
With the growth of the Internet, computer and network security has become more important than ever. Assaults on your CentOS system can come in many forms, such as denial-of-service attacks, break-in attempts, or hijacking your machine as a spam relay, to name a few.
In many cases, good practices for setting and protecting passwords, monitoring log files, and creating good firewalls will keep out many would-be intruders. Keeping up with critical security software updates will help patch vulnerabilities as they become known. The addition of SELinux adds another layer of protection on your Linux system. Sometimes, more proactive approaches are needed to respond to break-ins. This chapter will familiarize you with the dangers that exist and the tools necessary to protect your system.
Linux Security Checklist
While Linux offers all the tools you need to secure your computer, if you are careless, someone can (and probably will) harm your system or try to steal your data. The following checklist covers a range of security measures to protect your Linux desktop or server.
Add Users and Passwords—Creating separate user accounts, each with a good password, is your first line of ...
Get CentOS Bible now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
