Topics: Open Source Security

When: Saturday, May 17th, 2008
2:00pm - 5:00pm

Where: The University of Toledo, College of Engineering, Room 1026
(Google Map) (Campus Map)

Who: Presented by the Toledo Area Linux Users Group (TALUG)
Open to the general public

Security

Open source enthusiasts often trumpet the security of Linux, especially compared to its closed source counterparts. While the numbers tend to affirm this notion, does that mean Linux sysadmins should relax on security or be lulled into a false sense of security? Absolutely not! Linux and Unix systems are hacked and compromised everyday, often to greater detriment than your common bot-infected Windows box because these systems are powering infrastructure housing significant data.

The purpose of the presentation will be to cover some of the basics of Linux security. Most Linux distributions are not necessarily optimized for security because they must cater to the average user, but most installations have specific (not average) requirements. We'll talk about IPTables, TCP Wrappers, ACLs, and how to configure some of the more common services (Open-SSH, Apache, Postfix) for a more secure environment. Hopefully this discussion will spawn more in-depth discussion of specific security areas.

Our presenter has a degree in Computer Science, eight years experience in the IT industry, and is currently a Special Agent with the FBI working cyber crimes.