CERT Guide to System and Network Security Practices, The

As the Internet and other information infrastructures have become larger, more complex, and more interdependent, unauthorized intrusions into computer systems and networks have become more frequent and more severe. It is increasingly critical that an organization secure the systems it connects to public networks. The CERT Coordination Center ®, the first computer security response group, was established to help systems administrators meet these challenges by publishing advisories and developing key security practices, implementations, and tech tips on a timely basis. The CERT ® Guide to System and Network Security makes these practices and implementations available for the first time in book form. With a practical, stepwise approach, the book shows administrators how to protect systems and networks against malicious and inadvertent compromise. If you are installing, configuring, operating, or maintaining systems or networks--or managing any of those functions--you will find here easy-to-implement guidance to protect your information infrastructure. The practices are platform- and operating-system independent; however, several procedural and tool-based implementations are provided to illustrate the technology-specific guidance that is freely available from the CERT Web site (www.cert.org). The book is divided into two main parts, the first dealing with hardening and securing your system--preventing problems in the first place. The second part covers intrusion detection and response, recognizing that even the most secure networks and systems cannot protect against every conceivable threat. The practices selected for the book are based on CERT's extensive data on security breaches and vulnerabilities, providing an authoritative view of the most common problems system and network administrators confront. See how to: Secure general-purpose network servers and user workstations Configure public Web servers to operate securely including the use of authentication and encryption technologies Configure, test, and deploy firewall systems Detect, respond to, and recover from intrusions Implement selected practices on systems running a Solaris 2.x operating system Identify practice-related topics to address in your security policies By implementing the security practices described in this book, you will be incorporating protection mechanisms for up to 80 percent of the security incidents reported to CERT. 020173723XB04192001