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Hardening Linux

Linux is an enterprise-grade operating system and is capable of the utmost security. However, many installations fall short because the out-of-the-box setup routines have to cater for the lowest common denominator.

There’s no way a generic installer can assume what it is to be used for. This has to add up to bucket loads of web servers, mail servers, ftp servers and more which are running, http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifbut aren’t needed. This is particularly true if your system has been running for some time. Modern distros, like Ubuntu, are far more defensive by default - but this doesn't help large and/or busy systems who can't afford to rebuild from scratch each time a new release is available.

There are tools to tighten up and harden your server – and we’ll introduce you to Bastille – but it’s important to understand how to do it manually too. Read more at iTWire
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