Hardening Linux
I've downloaded Linux Mint and have installed in on my hard drive. Am I ready to start using it to perform some confidential work (eg banking, email, etc), or is there something else I need to do to harden the OS. I am running under a guest account instead of the admin account.
With Windows, I'd install the OS, install security patches, enable firewall/AV etc. Thank you |
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You really ought to have an account with a personalised username and a non-dictionary-word as a password string (and 'password1' would be nearly as bad). Quote:
You don't say anything about how you connect to the internet (or whether you use wireless and whether there are other risks local to your connection) so it is difficult to be specific, but there is a firewall. the firewall is iptables, which is really a firewall programming language. You can choose to learn that, or use a graphical front end (choice of many, check the package manager). I found it easy enough to learn iptables, but most people think that this is an eccentric approach. In practice, there is no need for AV provided that you are sensible and aren't downloading files for Windows. But you might want AV anyway, so use the package manager to find out what is available for your platform. But bear in mind that most threats aren't technically viruses, so Av doesn't protect you against, eg, phishing etc. |
Hi,
Welcome to LQ! LQ Security would be one link to look at in the Security section of 'Slackware-Links'. |
You can encrypt a partition or a USB drive to protect its contents. Ubuntu's Disk Utility supports encryption, but you need to install cryptsetup. Encrypting a drive doesn't slow the performance as I had initially thought.
This article might be helpful: http://www.fsckin.com/tag/cryptsetup/ |
@onebuck, Thank you, this is a great read, I will go through it, but a quick scan today does show me that some of the material in this document is beyond the scope of my knowledge.
@salasi - I don't use wireless, trusting a wired connection much more for my work. I am also running under a non root account with a unique username/password. With package manager, should I update just the level 1 updates or do I do all the updates (level 1-3)? |
Hi,
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Read for understanding and if there's something you don't understand then post a query. <Linux> - Google Search or even Search LQ with proper keywords. :hattip: |
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