Linux Security Week - March 26th 2001

[newsletter-admins () linuxsecurity com]

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|  LinuxSecurity.com                         Weekly Newsletter        |
|  March 26th, 2001                          Volume 2, Number 13n     |
|                                                                     |
|  Editorial Team:  Dave Wreski             dave () linuxsecurity com    |
|                   Benjamin Thomas         ben () linuxsecurity com     |
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Thank you for reading the LinuxSecurity.com weekly security
newsletter. The purpose of this document is to provide our readers
with a quick summary of each week's most relevant Linux security
headlines.

This week, a few of the good articles include "Passive Analysis of SSH
Secure Shell) Traffic," "Understanding stealth scans: Forewarned is
forearmed," "Realisic Expectations for Intrusion Detection Systems,"
and "A Brief Comparison of Email Encryption Protocols"

This week, advisories were released for slrn, cups, mutt, icecast,
imap, sgml-tools, and licq.  The vendors include Conectiva, Mandrake,
and Trusix. Although this week has been slow, if you are using any of
these distributions, please take the necessary time to patch your
system.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/forums_article-2731.html


Are you sick and tired of having to apply system updates week after
week?  Why not use a distribution specifically for built for
security, but still maintaining maximum usability and flexibility.
Guardian Digital, Inc. (our parent company), has announced that
EnGarde Secure Linux will be made publicly available March 30th,
2001.  We invite you visit EnGarde's website for details.
http://www.engardelinux.org


HTML Version available:
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/newsletter.html


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| Host Security News: | <<-----[ Articles This Week ]-----------------+
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* Passive Analysis of SSH (Secure Shell) Traffic
March 19th, 2001

EnGarde is the next generation in Linux security providing a complete
suite of  e-business services, intrusion alert capabilities, improved
authentication and access  control utilizing strong cryptography, and
complete SSL secure Web-based  administration capabilities.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/projects_article-2700.html



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| Network Security News: |
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* Understanding stealth scans: Forewarned is forearmed
March 22nd, 2001

This week's column is a basic primer on scanning: what it is, why
it's done, and the wonderful world of "secret handshakes" and stealth
scans. Scanning a system, or a network, is normally done in order to
find out what services are available. But remember, there are two
groups who do it regularly.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/network_security_article-2723.html


* Realisic Expectations for Intrusion Detection Systems
March 20th, 2001

Intrusion detection forms an increasingly important segment of the
security technology market. While intrusion detection systems were,
until recently, both expensive and difficult to maintain, they have
become more affordable. With the arrival of less expensive
off-the-shelf solutions, IDSs are becoming a more common feature of
security regimens.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/intrusion_detection_article-2710.html


* Honeynet Project Forensic Challenge Results
March 20th, 2001

EnGarde is the next generation in Linux security providing a complete
suite of  e-business services, intrusion alert capabilities, improved
authentication and access  control utilizing strong cryptography, and
complete SSL secure Web-based  administration capabilities.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/projects_article-2708.html




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| Cryptography News:     |
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* A Brief Comparison of Email Encryption Protocols
March 24th, 2001

This document briefly reviews and compares five major email
encryption protocols under consideration: MOSS, MSP, PGP, PGP/MIME,
and S/MIME. Each is capable of adequate security, but also suffers
from the lack of good implementation, in the context of transparent
email encryption.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/cryptography_article-2740.html


* Flaw reported in popular e-mail encryption program
March 21st, 2001

Two cryptologists announced Tuesday that they had found a flaw in the
most widely used  program for sending encrypted, or coded, e-mail
messages. If confirmed, the flaw would allow a determined adversary
to obtain secret codes used by senders of encrypted e-mail.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/cryptography_article-2719.html




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| Vendors/Products:      |
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* Apache Insecurity Reveals Directory Contents
March 23rd, 2001

In this column, we look at  buffer overflows in icecast, Half-Life
Dedicated Server, Solaris SNMP, ipop2d,  ipop3d, and imapd; format
string vulnerabilities in icecast, mutt, Half-Life  Dedicated
Server, and cfengine;  temporary-file problems in the  SGML-Tools
package and Mesa; and  problems with Apache, several FTP  daemons, a
Solaris SNMP agent,  vBulletin, FTPFS, and Ikonboard.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/vendors_products_article-2706.html


* Uncovering the secrets of SE Linux: Part 2
March 21st, 2001

In an uncharacteristic move, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA)
recently released a  security-enhanced version of Linux -- code and
all -- to the open source community. Part 2 of this  developerWorks
exclusive delves deeper into the code, dissecting how the security_av
is  computed and examining how other SE Linux security features are
invoked.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/projects_article-2722.html


* Turnkey Linux package eases VPN installation
March 19th, 2001

Network professionals will be able to more  easily set up and
configure Linux-based VPNs in  branch offices with software, services
and hardware  from OpenReach and Penguin Computing.  OpenReach and
Penguin announced last week a  turnkey Linux VPN package consisting
of OpenReach  software and services, and Penguin PCs.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/network_security_article-2737.html





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| General News:          |
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* NSA's Rice Calls For Joint Web Security Effort
March 23rd, 2001

The protection of the American infrastructure is an important part of
the agenda of the National Security Council, according to President
Bush's National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice.   Speaking to
industry and government leaders at the Partnership for Critical
Infrastructure of the US Chamber of Commerce annual meeting in
Washington on Thursday, Rice said, "Today, the cyber economy is the
economy.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/government_article-2739.html


* Bulletin: 'Dangerous' Linux worm in the wild
March 23rd, 2001

A dangerous worm is spreading across the Internet and infecting
Linux servers running vulnerable domain name software, the SANS
Institute  warned this morning.    Called Lion, the worm steals
passwords, installs and hides other hacking tools on  infected
systems, and then uses those systems to seek other servers to attack,
 SANS said.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/network_security_article-2736.html


* Developers call for web security standard
March 22nd, 2001

A group of security developers has called for an industry standard
for internet  security testing.    The group, called Ideahamster,
which includes a mixture of security experts  and developers, has
suggested that the introduction of such a standard would  make it
easier for users to judge security products.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/projects_article-2730.html


* Privacy's Price
March 20th, 2001

The potential for abuse - advertisers, for instance, could soon
pinpoint cell-phone users and beam  them messages based on their
shopping habits - has prompted Congress to consider a series of bills
 that, taken together, would dramatically restrict retailers,
financial firms, health insurers and schools  from sharing customer
information.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/privacy_article-2713.html


* The hacking hobbyist
March 19th, 2001

Jeff Baker  hacks into corporate computer networks for fun - period.
  Baker, a 24-year-old systems programmer, is part of a group of
computer experts who spend  their free time trying to figure out
potential Internet security threats to large networks.   Over the
last year, Baker's hobby has led him to technology security lapses at
E*Trade, the  Charles Schwab brokerage concern, Wells Fargo bank and
the Critical Path e-mail service.

http://www.linuxsecurity.com/articles/hackscracks_article-2702.html



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