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Linux and Unix Security Portable Reference
The intended audience for this book is primarily IT professionals who have some experience in systems administration and security. The book is organized into logical sections: Part 1 deals with hacking techniques and defenses, Part 2 deals with host hardening, and Part 3 contains special topics. Each part is divided into chapters that follow a logical progression.
Part 1 starts with footprinting, which includes basic information gathering about potential targets. The chapters then proceed further into the stages of an attack (port scanning, obtaining a shell, privilege escalation) and finishes by discussing some of the techniques hackers use to cover their tracks. The services covered in this section include FTP, Telnet, SSH, SMTP, HTTP, HTTPS, R-services, NFS, Samba, POP, IMAP, MySQL, X, and VNC. An interesting point here is that these services are listed in ascending order with respect to their port numbers.
Part 2, Host Hardening, examines some vulnerabilities common to most systems and includes remedies. Choosing good passwords is discussed, as well as how to set password policies. Though the author warns of the dangers of weak passwords, I would have liked to see a more thorough explanation of how to choose passwords. The section goes on to explain how to disable unnecessary services and harden remote services. At the end of this section are chapter on good practices related to user and system privileges, as well as logging.
Part 3 contains some interesting material, including a whole chapter on the Nessus Attack Scripting Language (NASL), wireless hacking, hacking with the Sharp Zaurus PDA. The section on wireless networks contains some fairly standard material (WEP is insecure, using AirSnort, etc.) but nevertheless serves as a good reminder to use caution when deploying wireless networks. The final chapter, Hacking with the Sharp Zaurus PDA, is especially interesting and details all sorts of fun things you can do with this handheld device, including scanning for wireless networks, connecting to remote machines via SSH, and using VNC to control remote machines.
The Good
This book does an excellent job of presenting information in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. It avoids theories and concepts and delivers just the facts that a systems administrator needs to evaluate and protect a Unix or Linux system. It also makes use of helpful icons throughout the book which draw attention to key points. For example, hacking techniques have a sword icon next to them while defense techniques are listed with a shield. This visual feedback makes it easy to focus in on specific techniques and helps organize the material in a more usable manner. The content of the book is especially good, and the author does a thorough job of covering the basic hacking techniques as well as methods of defense against these techniques.
Another great feature of this book is the inclusion of a reference center in the middle of the book. This section, marked by easy-to-find blue pages, contains a wealth of relevant reference information, such as common commands, common ports, IP addressing, online resources, useful netcat commands, an ascii table, HTTP codes, and important files.
Suggestions
It's hard to find much wrong with this book. However, I felt that a few things were glossed over. For example, the section on passwords was extremely brief and gave no suggestions for choosing good passwords or for how long to set password expirations. In addition to the discussion on TCP Wrappers, I would have also liked to see some mention of using iptables for creating a software firewall.
Summary
HackNotes(tm) Linux and Unix Security Portable Reference is an excellent security reference for IT professionals and systems administrators. The clear, concise presentation of the book makes it easy to digest and use as a practical resource. It is well-organized and thorough and covers a wide range of situations. If you maintain one or more Unix or Linux machines, this book belongs on your shelf.
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On behalf of all grumpy readers, I would like to elaborate more on this book's flaws.
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First, lets start with the title. "HackNotes Linux and Unix Security Portable Refrence." The title is far too long. A much nicer title would have been an unpronounceable vowelless abbreviation such as HNLUSPR. Also the title is ambiguous - Is hacknotes the author/publisher or is it a description of what the book is about? And if you ask your local B&N service rep for books by HackNotes, is it one word or two?
Now, more on to the book. It is far from portable. Sure, you can move it around but don't try sticking it in your pocket. Perhaps they should have included a handle on the spline.
The book is also missing GNU/'s all over the place. I mean, what is linux? I've always been severely beaten with a UNIX manual by a guy with a huge beard everytime I said linux without a GNU/ infront of it. And yes, you *MUST* pronounce the
The advice the book gives is fairly standard. Close all ports, don't use windows etc... Not too special for a "pocket" guide. A far more usefull guide would have included all ports to forward for games. I can't count the times I've had to research what ports a game uses in order to get it to work through my NAT.
Now, more about the book itself. Its made of paper! I attempted to test its easy-to-digestness but gave up around chapter 3. I seriously doubt that this is production quality digestableness. However, the copy I received may have been a pre-release so that might not apply to the final book.
The book itself is strewn with DMCA violations as well. In the forward, the editors openly admit to using the shift key while writing it -- a known security circumvention device. Also, the authors signature on the back jacket appears to be made with a Sharpie marker. Don't be supprised if the FBI raids your local bookstore. (Disclaimer: all uppercase letters in this post were made with the CAPS LOCK key. All extended characters such as * and () were made with thier ASCII code equivilants.)
All in all, this book doesn't live up to the hype. It will most likely be placed on the same shelf with all the other security guides. However if it will end up on the Unix or GNU/Linux shelf still remains a mystery.
Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
As an MCSE, I have to ask: Are there pictures? Are there ducks in the pictures? Will we be tested on how many ducks there are in the pictures? How many chances do we have to guess the correct number of ducks in the pictures? Can I go nap now?
My monitor came with my password already written on it. Is that convienient or what?
KFG
Why is it that everyone wants to write a security book nowadays without any regard to whether the book actually adds anything to the realm of infosec? Do the authors prize the idea of being viewed as subject matter experts so they will get invited to speak at cons, thereby further inflating their reputations/egos?
The whole review spoke of shit I have in half a dozen other books already. If I pick up a security book and it has crypto basics or passwd basics in it I'm tempted to just toss it right then and there, especially since most of these tomes are >$40.
Very few security books find their way to my shelf nowadays since most are redundant. Awesome exceptions include:
Incident Response (McGraw Hill)
Practical Unix & Internet Security (OReilly...like you didn't know)
Network Intrusion Detection (New Rider)
Building Internet FWs (OReilly)
There are others of course but these all share the characteristic of actually *adding knowledge to the field*.