From the category archives:

Security

Tripwire Tutorial: Linux Host Based Intrusion Detection System

by Ramesh Natarajan on December 8, 2008

Tripwire - Linux IDSPhoto courtesy of judepics

Tripwire is a host based Intrusion detection system for Linux. Tripwire monitors Linux system to detect and report any unauthorized changes to the files and directories. Once a baseline is created, tripwire monitors and detects, which file is added, which file is changed, what is changed, who changed it, and when it was changed. If the changes are legitimate, you can update the tripwire database to accept these changes.

Also, for monitoring solution, please refer to all our previous articles on Nagios

This step by step instruction guide explains how to install and configure open source version of tripwire.
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10 Tips to Use Your Hardware and Software Vendor Support Effectively

by Ramesh Natarajan on September 29, 2008

[Tech Support by a Cat]Photo courtesy of wraithtdk

Companies purchase support for most of their enterprise hardwares (servers, switches, routers, firewalls etc.,) and softwares (databases, OS, applications, frameworks etc.,). They spend lot of cash on support mainly for two reasons: 1) To get help from vendors to fix critical production issues 2) To keep up-to-date with the latest version of the software and security patches released by the vendors. In this article, I’ve given 10 practical tips for DBAs, sysadmins and developers to use their hardware and software support effectively.
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Firefox Add-On: Hire 7 Personal Bodyguards to Browse Internet Securely

by Ramesh Natarajan on September 25, 2008

Photo courtesy of markstrange

We see celebrities, politicians and famous people cruise around with bodyguards to protect themselves and their possessions from various threats. While most of us cannot afford such kind of protection when we cruise the streets, we can at least have that kind of protection when we cruise the internet. I have provided list of 7 powerful Firefox add-ons with screenshots that will protect you from the dangerous unknowns of the internet.
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6 Steps to Secure Your Home Wireless Network

by Ramesh Natarajan on August 7, 2008

Wireless RouterMost of you might have enabled wireless encryption, which is only one of the 6 steps mentioned in this article to make your wireless network safe and secure from hackers.  The screenshots mentioned below are from Linksys wireless router. But, you’ll find similar options for all the 6 steps mentioned below in wireless routers from any other vendors.
 
Apart from these 6 steps to secure your wireless router, also make sure your wireless router firmware is up-to-date. Refer to our 4 easy steps to upgrade linksys wireless router firmware article for detailed instructions on how to upgrade your router firmware.
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The Ultimate Guide for Creating Strong Passwords

by Ramesh Natarajan on June 8, 2008

Strong Password
 

“Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don’t let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months” – Clifford Stoll

 
When you create an account on a website, you may have the “password dilemma” for a second. The dilemma is whether you should provide a weak password that is easy to remember or a strong password that is hard to remember. Following are the rules and guidelines that may help you in overcoming the password dilemma and help you in creating a strong password that are secure. These are the things that I’ve used over years based on my own interest in the area of keeping the password safe and secure.

I. Two essential password rules:

Following two rules are bare minimal that you should follow while creating a password.
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