Garfinkel Simson, Spafford Gene
This book is a practical guide to UNIX security. For users, we explain what computer security is, describe some of the dangers that you may face, and tell you how to keep your data safe and sound. For administrators, we explain in greater detail how UNIX security mechanisms work and tell how to configure and administer your computer for maximum protection. For everybody, we try to teach something about UNIX 's internals, its history, and how to keep yourself from getting burned.Is this book for you? Probably. If you administer a UNIX system, you will find many tips for running your computer more securely. Even if you're a casual user of a UNIX system, you should read this book. If you are a complete novice at UNIX , you will benefit from reading this book, because it contains a thorough overview of the UNIX operating system in general. You don't want to stay a UNIX novice forever! (But you might want to read some other O'Reilly books first; consult Appendix D, Paper Sources , for some suggestions.)What we've done here has been to collect helpful information concerning how to secure your UNIX system against threats, both internal and external. Most of the material is intended for a UNIX system administrator or manager. In most cases, we've presented material and commands without explaining in any detail how they work, and in several cases we've simply pointed out the nature of the commands and files that need to be examined; we've assumed that a typical system administrator is familiar with the commands and files of his or her system, or at least has the manuals available to study.
