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13 Feb 12
I want to dive into the topics networking/security. I have some working knowledge of Linux: I use Ubuntu Linux, Chakra Linux, Puppy Linux. And I know the terminal well.
My question: where to start? What books do you recommend that I should read on these topics? Where did you start? Btw, I have a higher education.
Any help on this is more than welcome.
13 Feb 12
Hi Napoleonlinux,
I'm sure more people will jump in with great book recommendations but I figured I would pop in as well.
You should consider heading over to Security Focus and subscribing to as many mailing lists as seem relevant to you. Of particular interest should be security-basics which focuses on beginner questions exactly like you just asked here except with a ton of security professionals lurking around to answer them.
You'll also be getting very current information to compliment all of fundamental knowledge you'll be getting from larger texts that way.
Just a thought.
-MM
14 Feb 12
I've kept this bookmark around for quite a few years, because it contains links to a lot of security documents. While it is a broad "Linux Security" article, it also contains links to network based security pages.
https://isc.sans.edu//diary.html?storyid=3514
BTW - It was written in 2007, but most of the links point to recent versions (Like the fedora link links to F16). Even though it's a few years old, the methods haven't changed much and are still worth reading.
17 Feb 12
If you really want to understand various security controls in Linux based systems, then I highly recommend checking out gentoo or Linux From Scratch so that you can install a system from the core components without any built-in security controls. This will allow you to hand configure the controls you wish to implement and will force you to watch the vulnerability lists to maintain a secure systems. The greater purpose is to force you to use that system as your primary system so that the necessary research and testing is forced upon you.
You should also checkout backtrack http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=backtrack so that you can test and learn about various network and physical intrusion methods.
Can you share what aspect of Network Security you are most interested in such as packet analysis, port control, remote exploits, intrusion detection systems, etc...?
17 Feb 12
Lol, all of it, Mfillpot. I am reading a book written by Patrick Engebretson, called "The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing." It covers the basics and it is just what I need. In this book he covers Backtrack.
Are there books you can recommend? Have you ever used distributions such as IPcop Firewall?
I will be grateful for your answers.
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