System administrators need to stay ahead of new security vulnerabilities that leave their networks exposed every day. A firewall and an intrusion detection systems (IDS) are two important weapons in that fight, enabling you to proactively deny access and monitor network traffic for signs of an attack.

Linux Firewalls discusses the technical details of the iptables firewall and the Netfilter framework that are built into the Linux kernel, and it explains how they provide strong filtering, Network Address Translation (NAT), state tracking, and application layer inspection capabilities that rival many commercial tools. You'll learn how to deploy iptables as an IDS with psad and fwsnort and how to build a strong, passive authentication layer around iptables with fwknop.

Concrete examples illustrate concepts such as firewall log analysis and policies, passive network authentication and authorization, exploit packet traces, Snort ruleset emulation, and more with coverage of these topics:

• Passive network authentication and OS fingerprinting
• iptables log analysis and policies
• Application layer attack detection with the iptables string match extension
• Building an iptables ruleset that emulates a Snort ruleset
• Port knocking vs. Single Packet Authorization (SPA)
• Tools for visualizing iptables logs

Perl and C code snippets offer practical examples that will help you to maximize your deployment of Linux firewalls. If you're responsible for keeping a network secure, you'll find Linux Firewalls invaluable in your attempt to understand attacks and use iptables—along with psad and fwsnort—to detect and even prevent compromises.

This handy, compact guide teaches you to use SUSE Linux as the experts do: from the command line. Try out over 1000 commands to find and get software, monitor system health and security, and access network resources. Apply skills you learn from this book to use and administer desktops and servers running openSUSE and SUSE Linux Enterprise or any other Linux distribution.

If you think Knoppix is just a Linux demo disk, think again. Klaus Knopper created an entire Linux distribution on a bootable CD (and now a DVD) so he could use his favorite open source tools on any computer. This book includes a collection of tips and techniques for using the enormous amount of software Knoppix offers-not just to work and play, but also to troubleshoot, repair, upgrade, and disinfect your system without having to install a thing.

Knoppix Hacks is just like the distribution it covers: a veritable Swiss Army knife packed full of tools. Scores of industrial-strength hacks-many of them new to this second edition-cover both the standard Knoppix CD and the feature-rich DVD "Maxi" distribution, which is included with this book. Discover how to use Knoppix to its full potential as your desktop, rescue CD, or as a launching point for your own live CD.

You love it as the world’s most popular desktop Linux distribution, and now Ubuntu is available at a server near you. Embracing the very same features desktop users have grown to love, system administrators are rapidly adopting Ubuntu due to their ability to configure, deploy, and manage network services more effectively than ever.

Practical Ubuntu Server Administration guides you through all of the key configuration and administration tasks you’ll need to know. Whether you’re interested in adopting Ubuntu within a Fortune 500 environment or just want to use Ubuntu to manage your home network, this book is your go-to guide to using the distribution securely for a wide variety of network services. Topics include file, print, web, and FTP management, command-line tips and tricks, automated installation, configuration and deployment processes, and kernel management.

Beginning Linux Programming, Fourth Edition continues its unique approach to teaching UNIX programming in a simple and structured way on the Linux platform. Through the use of detailed and realistic examples, students learn by doing, and are able to move from being a Linux beginner to creating custom applications in Linux. The book introduces fundamental concepts beginning with the basics of writing Unix programs in C, and including material on basic system calls, file I/O, interprocess communication (for getting programs to work together), and shell programming. Parallel to this, the book introduces the toolkits and libraries for working with user interfaces, from simpler terminal mode applications to X and GTK+ for graphical user interfaces. Advanced topics are covered in detail such as processes, pipes, semaphores, socket programming, using MySQL, writing applications for the GNOME or the KDE desktop, writing device drivers, POSIX Threads, and kernel programming for the latest Linux Kernel.