Server Security

A system acting as a server on a public network is like an open target. It can be attacked by anybody. Surely, this is one thing you do not want to happen to your system. As a precaution, you must learn how to harden the system and how to lock down services. In case you are wondering how to go about these two, simply keep in mind these four tips:

1.Make certain that all services are up to date in order to be protected against the latest threats.
2.Do not take secure protocols for granted. Use them whenever possible.
3.If it is feasible, serve just one type of network service per computer.
4.Keep an eye on all servers. Be alert when it comes to suspicious activities.

As you have read, improving your server security is not that hard.

On the other hand, if you want to take server security to another level, you can always use TCP wrappers. TCP wrappers are necessary to gain control to different services. The latest network services (e.g. Telnet, FTP, and SSH) use TCP wrappers to determine which incoming request can be approved as a requested service.

Besides being the guard between incoming requests and requested services, another advantage of using TCP wrappers in relation to server security is that they can be attack warnings. Once a host or network attacked the server, the TCP wrappers can keep a record of the attack and subsequent attacks will be futile. As soon as the host or the network tried to attack the server again, the TCP wrapper will send off a warning which includes the name of the service the host or the network was attempting to enter.