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Mastering Linux Security and Hardening: A practical guide to protecting your Linux system from cyber attacks

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Description

Gain a firm practical understanding of how to secure your Linux system from intruders, malware attacks, and other cyber threatsGet With Your Book: PDF Copy, AI Assistant, and Next-Gen Reader FreeKey FeaturesDiscover security techniques to prevent malware from infecting a Linux system, and detect itPrevent unauthorized people from breaking into a Linux systemProtect important and sensitive data from being revealed to unauthorized personsBook DescriptionThe third edition of Mastering Linux Security and Hardening is an updated, comprehensive introduction to implementing the latest Linux security measures, using the latest versions of Ubuntu and AlmaLinux.In this new edition, you will learn how to set up a practice lab, create user accounts with appropriate privilege levels, protect sensitive data with permissions settings and encryption, and configure a firewall with the newest firewall technologies. You’ll also explore how to use sudo to set up administrative accounts with only the privileges required to do a specific job, and you’ll get a peek at the new sudo features that have been added over the past couple of years. You’ll also see updated information on how to set up a local certificate authority for both Ubuntu and AlmaLinux, as well as how to automate system auditing. Other important skills that you’ll learn include how to automatically harden systems with OpenSCAP, audit systems with auditd, harden the Linux kernel configuration, protect your systems from malware, and perform vulnerability scans of your systems. As a bonus, you’ll see how to use Security Onion to set up an Intrusion Detection System.By the end of this new edition, you will confidently be able to set up a Linux server that will be secure and harder for malicious actors to compromise.What you will learnPrevent malicious actors from compromising a production Linux systemLeverage additional features and capabilities of Linux in this new versionUse locked-down home directories and strong passwords to create user accountsPrevent unauthorized people from breaking into a Linux systemConfigure file and directory permissions to protect sensitive dataHarden the Secure Shell service in order to prevent break-ins and data lossApply security templates and set up auditingWho this book is forThis book is for Linux administrators, system administrators, and network engineers interested in securing moderate to complex Linux environments. Security consultants looking to enhance their Linux security skills will also find this book useful. Working experience with the Linux command line and package management is necessary to understand the concepts covered in this book.Table of ContentsRunning Linux in a Virtual EnvironmentSecuring Administrative User AccountsSecuring Normal User AccountsSecuring Your Server with a Firewall - Part 1Securing Your Server with a Firewall - Part 2Encryption TechnologiesSSH HardeningMastering Discretionary Access ControlAccess Control Lists and Shared Directory ManagementImplementing Mandatory Access Control with SELinux and AppArmorKernel Hardening and Process IsolationScanning, Auditing and HardeningLogging and Log SecurityVulnerability Scanning and Intrusion DetectionPrevent Unwanted Programs from RunningSecurity Tips & Tricks for the Busy Bee Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Packt Publishing


Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2023


Edition ‏ : ‎ 3rd


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 620 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1837630518


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 16


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1.4 x 9.25 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #138,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Linux Programming #22 in Linux Networking & System Administration #40 in Computer Network Security


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Must have rerference and guide point.
Format: Paperback
I have purchased quite a few too many books over the years online after reading reviews and often find out the content is shallow and lacking any depth for a technical volume. I have a back ground of ~7yrs in Security Engineering spaning many domains- I found this book an excellent "read" and phenomenal reference resource. You can absolutely tell the author, Donald, is a true engineer at heart when making follow up comments after a few sections saying "You can do xyz, heres how to do it; though it probably wont mean much if you do". I audibly laughed a few times having been in similar situations knowing Donald most definitely had huge smirk when writing that down. A good portion of the content in the book was known to me and yet I still found I was learning and considering some of my strategies in place presently for tackling issues. I really couldn't recommend this book more to anyone- while it considers you know some intermediate concepts it provides approachable and relatable use cases which are easily replicated or modified. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2023 by Malware

  • Essential read for any Linux admin
Format: Paperback
Our company makes us take the Security+ exam which is a total joke. Would be much better to just have everyone read this book. One of the two or three best Linux books out there. Well written and full of very useful information.
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024 by Robert J. Nagel

  • Exceptional value derived within the first 10 minutes of this book's arrival
Format: Paperback
I've read a TON of networking and Linux books, and this is the first time in a long time that a book has delivered value during the first quick-contents-scan I do upon receipt. Not only did I find two "winners" that I will immediately apply to a customer's network, I understood everything I read immediately - no going back to re-read anything. This book does not suffer from the typical "disarray" that other packt publisher titles suffer from - whether due to multiple authors' disjoint writing styles, or hastily-assembled contents cutting too wide a swath of the technology it purports to cover. This book suffers from neither of those two concerns. The singular author has issued this third edition of his work, and it is coherent and singularly-voiced - with humor and obvious knowledge from which he writes. I am impressed with this book, the author and editor(s) behind it. It is definitely well worth the investment! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2023 by sipy

  • Not long enough!
Format: Kindle
Excellent material, good coverage and understandable. Just what I needed to get up to speed and set up an rsyslog server.
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2024 by Darryl L. Rowe

  • Everything is in there but Secure Boot info
Format: Paperback
Information about Secure Boot keys and signing your bootloaders is missing from this book. Other than that it is very educational.
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024 by Jeff Childers

  • Really Good
Format: Kindle
This is the kind of stuff I would like to see as a college course. Of course I'd also like it to be taught by a teacher with real life experience
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2023 by Kindle

  • Well Written and Informative
Format: Kindle
While I do believe that Linux is a more secure platform over all compared to Windows, that does not mean it is impervious to malware or other types of cyber attacks. Just a cursory glance at the website CVE Details will display a fair number of vulnerabilities that score 7.0 and higher for Linux, while a recent Office of Information Security TLP report on the BlackCat ransomware will show that Debian and Ubuntu operating systems are susceptible along with most Windows operating systems, both server and desktop. This is where Donald A. Tevault's latest book, "Mastering Linux Security and Hardening, 3E" from Packt Publishing comes in. This book is aimed at Linux system and security administrators. The text is clearly written, with good explanations of the topics at hand and how-to's scattered throughout each chapter to help drive the points home. It is not a beginners book. If you are just starting your foray into the Linux world, I would suggest reading one of the Ghori or van Vugt books that cover the RHCSA exam. If your work or interests lie more in the Ubuntu/Debian side of Linux, I recommend the excellent "Mastering Ubuntu Server, 4E" from Jay LaCroix also by Packt Publishing. Working through the projects in Jay's book while also following his youtube channel can't help but create a solid foundation. Tevault's book starts where the previously mentioned books stop. Where the RHCSA books give you seven pages that cover the journald firewall (more than enough info for the exam), Trevaualt gives you five times that just to cover ip- and nftables and then follows that with another chapter that covers journald and Ubuntu's ufw firewalls. A chapter on encryption covers the use of GPG for email confidentiality and integrity, encrypting partitions or whole disks, and working with the OpenSSL library and the PKI. On more than one occasion I have been asked in cybersecurity interviews to discuss what I know about encryption, so this section I find very helpful. What I learned in the Access Contol chapters, I never would have thought to google for investigation. I learned something new from every chapter. "Mastering Linux Security and Hardening, 3E" sparked many idea's for me on improving my configuration scripts and simpler bash one-offs. I could see using it to update old knowledge base articles. The book also proved quite helpful in providing additional details for common subjects which I thought I knew well. We have all seen the one-star reviews on Amazon with the rant "this all can be found for free online". Not if you don't know what it is you don't know, and this book helps to alleviate that problem. Buy this book, and keep it within arm's reach. It is that good. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2023 by Vic Malone

  • A Great Update to an Already Great Resource on Linux Security and Hardening
Format: Paperback
I had the honor of receiving an early release review copy of the updated 3rd Edition of Mastering Linux Security and Hardening. I purchased the 2nd Edition shortly after its publication in 2018. At the time, the 2nd Edition provided a great resource for tips and tricks as well as best practices. Now that the 3rd Edition has been published, I can say that it meets the expectations of the 2nd Edition and surpasses it with the updated information for recent Linux distro updates and new considerations to Linux Security. The author Donald A. Tevault and Packt Publishing have again gone above and beyond on this book. The fact that there are just some concepts and best practices that do not change, does not mean that those concepts do not need to be included in association with updates to new functionality and features of newer distributions. Add to the fact that the book does not only describe what needs to be done but provides hands on labs, such as Hands-on lab – using Firejail on page 396, makes this a go to resource. Being able to see the application of these principles across common Linux distributions that you would find in the Enterprise, such as Redhat/CentOS and Ubuntu, makes this the go to resource for any new Linux enthusiast or the hardened IT/system admin. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2023 by Lester

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