any linux people here?

[Lance Delacroix]

Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump Windoze
forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with Windoze, what the
minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux computer on the net?

Thanks.

[siljaline]

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 22:35:33 +0300, Lance Delacroix <lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote:

>Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump Windoze
>forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with Windoze, what the
>minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux computer on the net?
>
>Thanks.

Hi Lance,

Quick query of my ISP's news-server list using "linux" gives quite the few hits,
a smattering of those, the Mandrake NG is likely the one you're after.

news:alt.comp.linux
news:alt.os.linux
news:alt.os.linux.mandrake


HTH & mail me!




--
siljaline

"Arguing with anonymous strangers on the Internet is a sucker's game
because they almost always turn out to be -- or to be indistinguishable from
-- self-righteous sixteen-year-olds possessing infinite amounts of free time."
- Neil Stephenson, _Cryptonomicon_

[data64]

Lance Delacroix <lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote in
news:blf83s$b7jo2$1@ID-110594.news.uni-berlin.de:

> Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump
> Windoze forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with
> Windoze, what the minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux
> computer on the net?
>
> Thanks.

Setup ip tables (the firewall). Use privoxy if you want to filter
banners, ads, etc. You can also use a Hosts file to block bad sites.

data64

[Gordon Darling]

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 20:21:52 +0000, data64 wrote:

> Lance Delacroix <lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote in
> news:blf83s$b7jo2$1@ID-110594.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
>> Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump
>> Windoze forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with
>> Windoze, what the minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux
>> computer on the net?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Setup ip tables (the firewall). Use privoxy if you want to filter
> banners, ads, etc. You can also use a Hosts file to block bad sites.
>

Good advice. However iptables can be daunting for a new user. Look at
installing Guarddog which is a fairly intuitive pretty gui to help set it
up.

When on line go to
http://plf.zarb.org/~nanardon/urpmiweb.php
to add sources for "update", "plf", "texstar" & 'contrib' package mirrors
which makes updating/adding packages a breeze.

Good luck.
Gordon

[data64]

data64 <me@privacy.net> wrote in news:Xns9407A63ACFC0AData64Bigfootcom@
130.133.1.4:

> Lance Delacroix <lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote in
> news:blf83s$b7jo2$1@ID-110594.news.uni-berlin.de:
>
>> Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump
>> Windoze forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with
>> Windoze, what the minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux
>> computer on the net?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Setup ip tables (the firewall). Use privoxy if you want to filter
> banners, ads, etc. You can also use a Hosts file to block bad sites.
>
> data64
>

Forgot to add, only enable the services that you really need.
ie. if you do not really need an FTP server, do not enable that.
Similarly for all the other severs that it is possible to start.

data64

[Michael Palmer]

Basically you are safe unless you are online and logged in as root.
Operating as a user in the Linux/Unix environment isolates your
workstation from the operating system.


On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 22:35:33 +0300, Lance Delacroix
<lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote:

>Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump Windoze
>forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with Windoze, what the
>minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux computer on the net?
>
>Thanks.

Michael Palmer Westernport Bay Australia

[Jay T. Blocksom]

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 09:57:20 +1000, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, Michael Palmer
<dismal_dan@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Basically you are safe unless you are online and logged in as root.
[snip]

Notwithstanding the fact that logging-on as root is ALWAYS a risky
proposition, and should NEVER be done unless you really *really* need to,
that is simply not true.

> Operating as a user in the Linux/Unix environment isolates your
> workstation from the operating system.
>
[snip]

And neither is that.

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

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[Tim Smith]

In article <blf83s$b7jo2$1@ID-110594.news.uni-berlin.de>, Lance Delacroix
wrote:
> Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump Windoze
> forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with Windoze, what the
> minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux computer on the net?

Main thing is the same as Windows: apply security updates as soon as they
are available. Main difference from Windows is that the updates will be
available soon enough after a problem is found for the updates to be useful.
:-)

Go poke around at www.mandrake.com. They've got a lot of information there,
and they even have a seperate domain just for security stuff, that is full
of useful information:

http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en/

The documentation section there has many interesting subsections you'll
find helpful.

--
Evidence Eliminator is worthless. See evidence-eliminator-sucks.com
--Tim Smith

[Jay T. Blocksom]

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 06:15:14 GMT, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, Tim Smith
<reply_in_group@mouse-potato.com> wrote:
>
[snip]
>
> Main thing is the same as Windows: apply security updates as soon as they
> are available.
[snip]

While that might be good advice in the context of Linux, it most certainly
is NOT so for Windows. We've already had way too many instances of poorly
thought-out "patches" emanating from Redmond which broke more things than
they "fixed".

> Main difference from Windows is that the updates will be
> available soon enough after a problem is found for the updates to be
> useful. :-)
>
[snip]

I wouldn't call that the "main" difference, tho' it remains one difference.
More important, IMCO, is the fact that such patches/updatesd are needed much
less frequently, and they tend to be much more solid and reliable (partly as
a result of peer review) when they are released. Moreover, the vast
majority of so-called "Linux patches" are not really patches to Linux
itself; but rather to certain popular *nix applications

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTE: E-Mail address in "From:" line is INVALID! Remove +SPAMBLOCK to mail.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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under USC Title 47, Section 227. Violators are subject to charge of up to
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[Robin T Cox]

Lance Delacroix <lance_delacroix@fastmail.fm> wrote in
news:blf83s$b7jo2$1@ID-110594.news.uni-berlin.de:

> Using Mandrake 9.1, and am nearing a point where I'm ready to dump
> Windoze forever. Can anyody tell me, a la Sponge's efforts with
> Windoze, what the minimum smart things are to do to secure a Linux
> computer on the net?
>
> Thanks.

Lance,

There's some useful stuff here:
http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en/