If you've been messing with Linux for a while you've no doubt seen screens like the above a million times. But for me it's never been enough.
Useful tip.
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How to Secure a new Linux WordPress Server
The first line of defense in all of hosting and following sections I’ll write about, this being a subtle ‘zero’ or the least thought about topic of consideration, is your choice of usernames and passwords. I’ve had way too many clients always default to these two habits. The first is choosing a username that the whole of WordPress new sites used to have on install, ‘admin’ (no longer the case) and second, choosing a password that was easy for them to remember from anywhere. And then using that same combination on every single online account they had, even their personal accounts. Yikes! And even after I had generated a secure password for them, they changed it to something “easier” to remember. That always makes me feel extremely uneasy because I already can guess what’s in their site’s future. I have my clients’ best interest in mind when I generate those cumbersome passwords.
Update: Daniel moved his content to a new domain. This fixes a broken link. Let's hope I don't have to do this again. Fellow, Desk.pm user, Daniel Brinneman recent wrote an article on how to harden a WordPress website. Daniel's piece is well written and covers the basics. Please visit his site. While Daniel and…
Click To Read Full PostSetting Up an Open Source Security Lab with Ubuntu
[exif id="36254"] Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash It's been a while since I had dedicated Linux server in my home. In the early days of my career, I maintained a small "data centre" in my basement. It included BSD based network storage via FreeNAS, a LAMP installation, a Linux-based firewall and directory server, and…
Click To Read Full PostOpen Source Softare has to be better
I think we need to aim even higher with open source movement. It’s not just about an open source version of Photoshop or Windows or MS Office. It has to be bigger and more ambitious than free and open. It has to be better.
I’m a proponent and critic of man Open Source Projects. Some projects like PHP, Perl, Apache, Linux, MySQL, are very successful and provide very capable solutions to enterprises and small businesses. Other projects like GIMP and OpenOffice are a disappointment. They are poor alternatives for the products they are meant to replace. They are the…
Click To Read Full PostWhy I chose OS-X over Linux and Windows
My switch to OS X was not done lightly. In the summer of 2005, Apple released the mac mini. At that time they had not yet made the switch to Intel processors and were not as much in the spotlight. I had always wanted to try OS X, especially after hearing about it UNIX roots…
Click To Read Full PostWeb Proxy User Activity Reporting
I inherited a number of Perl, shell, and TCL scripts that produce reports from web proxy logs. The web proxies are scattered around the planet. Each day at midnight local proxy time the compressed logs are exported to a centralized repository. A set of CRON jobs executes the main script that takes as argument the region and date…
Click To Read Full PostNessus review by PC Magazine
Nessus review by PC Magazine: "Based on a client/server architecture, Nessus lets users run the administrative console, which executes vulnerability scans and holds databases on a machine other than the ser". I personally think PC Magazine was dismissive of Nessus. These magazines tend to be biased against the non-Windows platforms. I have not done so…
Click To Read Full PostManaging Linux Security Effectively in 2004
This article examines the process of proper Linux security management in 2004. First, a system should be hardened and patched. Next, a security routine should be established to ensure that all new vulnerabilities are addressed. Linux security should be treated as an evolving process.
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