[ISN] Linux Security Week - May 16th 2005

Tue May 17 01:56:39 EDT 2005

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|  LinuxSecurity.com                         Weekly Newsletter        |
|  May 16th, 2005                             Volume 6, Number 21n    |
|                                                                     |
|  Editorial Team:  Dave Wreski             dave at linuxsecurity.com    |
|                   Benjamin D. Thomas      ben at linuxsecurity.com     |
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Thank you for reading the LinuxSecurity.com weekly security newsletter.
The purpose of this document is to provide our readers with a quick
summary of each week's most relevant Linux security headlines.

This week, perhaps the most interesting articles include "A Gentle
Introduction To Cryptography," "The Potential for an SSH Worm," and
"Taking the guesswork out of information security."

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LINUX ADVISORY WATCH

This week, advisories were released for squid, smail, XFree86, lapack,
system-config-bind, gnutls, util-linux, libexif, ethereal, postgresql,
gaim, pygtk, GnuTLS, gzip, TCPDump, libTIFF, HT, and openmotif. The
distributors include Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, and Red Hat.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119112/150/

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Review: The Book of Postfix: State-of-the-Art Message Transport

I was very impressed with "The Book of Postfix" by authors Ralf Hildebrandt
and Pattrick Koetter and feel that it is an incredible Postfix reference.
It gives a great overall view of the operation and management of Postfix
in an extremely systematic and practical format. It flows in a logical
manner, is easy to follow and the authors did a great job of explaining
topics with attention paid to real world applications and how to avoid
many of the associated pitfalls. I am happy to have this reference in
my collection.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119027/49/

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Introduction: Buffer Overflow Vulnerabilities

Buffer overflows are a leading type of security vulnerability. This
paper explains what a buffer overflow is, how it can be exploited,
and what countermeasures can be taken to prevent the use of buffer
overflow vulnerabilities.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/118881/49/

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Getting to Know Linux Security: File Permissions

Welcome to the first tutorial in the 'Getting to Know Linux Security'
series.  The topic explored is Linux file permissions.  It offers an
easy to follow explanation of how to read permissions, and how to set
them using chmod.  This guide is intended for users new to Linux
security, therefore very simple.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/118181/49/

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| Security News:      | <<-----[ Articles This Week ]----------
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* A Gentle Introduction To Cryptography
  12th, May, 2005

Let us take the example of scrambling an egg. First, crack the shell,
pour the contents into a bowl and beat the contents vigorously until
you achieved the needed result - well, a scrambled egg. This action
of mixing the molecules of the egg is encryption. Since the molecules
are mixed-up, we say the egg has achieved a higher state of entropy
(state of randomness). To return the scrambled egg to its original
form (including uncracking the shell) is decryption.
Impossible?

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119109

* European security appliance sales soar
  12th, May, 2005

Demand for security appliances is going through the roof, with
western European sales of the devices predicted to reach over $1.4bn
in 2009, up from around $625m in 2004.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119110

* Think before deploying Security-Enhanced Linux in RHEL 4
  9th, May, 2005

One of the most exciting new features in RHEL v.4 is the
implementation of Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). In this tip,
we'll look at how you can use it to beef up system security.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119082

* OS makers: Security is job No. 1
  11th, May, 2005

That's the attitude of operating system makers, who aren't just
focusing on features such as snazzy graphics and better networking
tools when revamping products. Now they're also providing sturdier
defenses.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119095

* The Potential for an SSH Worm
  11th, May, 2005

SSH, or secure shell, is the standard protocol for remotely accessing
UNIX systems. It's used everywhere: universities, laboratories, and
corporations (particularly in data-intensive back office services).
Thanks to SSH, administrators can stack hundreds of computers close
together into air-conditioned rooms and administer them from the
comfort of their desks.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119103

* Hyper-Threading Considered Harmful
  13th, May, 2005

Hyper-Threading, as currently implemented on Intel Pentium Extreme
Edition, Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4, and Xeon processors, suffers
from a serious security flaw. This flaw permits local information
disclosure, including allowing an unprivileged user to steal an RSA
private key being used on the same machine. Administrators of
multi-user systems are strongly advised to take action to disable
Hyper-Threading immediately; single-user systems (i.e., desktop
computers) are not affected.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119115

* School Studies Effects of Internet Attacks
  9th, May, 2005

A new test laboratory at Iowa State University will allow researchers
to study how computer networks respond to massive Internet attacks
and could lead to breakthroughs in computer defenses and forensics,
said a researcher behind the project.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119078

* High-severity vulnerability in IPsec
  10th, May, 2005

Attackers could exploit a major flaw in the Internet Protocol
Security [IPsec] framework to obtain the plaintext version of
IPsec-protected communications "using only moderate effort," the
British-based National Infrastructure Security Co-Ordination Centre
[NISCC] warned in an advisory.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119089

* DDoS: don.t get stuck in denial
  13th, May, 2005

Companies have long realised the great business opportunities that
the Internet offers and it.s no secret that organisations are
shifting more and more of their business processes online. While this
move brings many advantages with it, such as widening customer reach
and reducing overheads, the emergence of organised crime in the
online world means that business needs to be sharper than ever when
it comes to security.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119113

* Security players shoot an all-in-one
  11th, May, 2005

Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems and 3Com's TippingPoint division are
integrating a trifecta of security features into all-in-one
appliances that give partners new ways to help cut the cost and
complexity of security solutions.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119104

* Novell snaps up Linux security company
  10th, May, 2005

Linux vendor Novell Inc. has acquired Immunix Inc., a security
software vendor in Portland, Ore. The 15-person company was bought
last week, but terms of the deal aren't being released, according to
Novell.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119090

* What is Cisco doing with Linux?
  12th, May, 2005

While networking giant Cisco has advantages most competitors don't -
dominant market share, a multi-billion-dollar R&D budget, thousands
of engineers - the vendor is also taking advantage and making the
most of resources that are open to everyone: Linux and open source
software.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119108

* Serious Firefox, Mozilla vulnerabilities surface
  10th, May, 2005

Recently discovered "zero-day" exploit code that takes advantage of
two vulnerabilities could mean serious trouble for Mozilla Firefox
1.0.3 users, and, to a lesser extent, Mozilla Suite users. Yesterday,
Mozilla.org issued an advisory explaining the vulnerabilities and
what measures to take to work around them.<p>{mos_sb_discuss:13}<P>

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119086

* Messaging security pros get back to basics
  11th, May, 2005

Gone are the days when viruses were the number one concern of
messaging administrators.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119094

* Taking the guesswork out of information security
  13th, May, 2005

Network security practitioners need to base their technology and
policy decisions less on what attacks are possible and more on which
are probable, according to the chief scientist for Resonance
Networks.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119114

* Alliance Asks Congress To Consider VoIP Vulnerabilities In Updated
Telecom Act
  11th, May, 2005

The Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) has called on Congress to
include security recommendations related to securing voice over IP
(VoIP) technologies as it reviews the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119100

* Exploit code chases two Firefox flaws
  9th, May, 2005

Two vulnerabilities in the popular Firefox browser have been rated
"extremely critical" because exploit code is now available to take
advantage of them.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119083

* Internet Attack Called Broad and Long Lasting by Investigators
  10th, May, 2005

The incident seemed alarming enough: a breach of a Cisco Systems
network in which an intruder seized programming instructions for many
of the computers that control the flow of the Internet.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119088

* Cisco Confirms Arrest In Theft Of Its Code
  12th, May, 2005

Cisco Systems issued a statement Monday confirming that police in
Sweden have arrested a suspect in connection with the theft of its
networking equipment source code last year.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119111

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