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CHAPTER 11
Linux Security

THESE DAYS IT’S A MUST to know how to run a secure Linux system. Fortunately, several tools are available in the Linux world to help make that job easier. This chapter discusses some of the security features of Linux that you may need to use depending on your specific environment.

The chapter starts out by discussing the importance of keeping track of the administrative account in Linux. The root user account has access to change everything on the Linux system. Controlling who can use that account, how they use it, and logging when they use it is the first step in Linux security. The section discusses some Linux tools and common techniques for controlling and monitoring root access on your system.

Next the chapter discusses implementing advanced security permissions in Linux. While Linux provides basic file protection, it lacks the ability to manage security of processes. There are, however, two common packages utilized to provide context-based security permissions to other Linux objects, such as processes. SELinux and AppArmor are two popular packages that provide advanced security in the Linux world.

The chapter then moves on to talk about encrypting partitions. Linux has a few different ways to encrypt files stored on the system. The chapter discusses the cryptsetup utility, which allows you to encrypt an entire partition so 
you don’t need to encrypt individual files. The chapter then finishes up with 
a brief introduction to using firewalls in Linux by exploring the popular firewalld utility.