Maximum Security:

A Hacker's Guide to Protecting Your Internet Site and Network

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How This Book Will Help You

Prior to writing this book, I had extensive discussions with the Sams.net editorial staff. In those discussions, one thing became immediately clear: Sams.net wanted a book that was valuable to all users, not just to a special class of them. An examination of earlier books on the subject proved instructive. The majority were well written and tastefully presented, but appealed primarily to UNIX or NT system administrators. I recognized that while this class of individuals is an important one, there are millions of average users yearning for basic knowledge of security. To accommodate that need, I aimed at creating an all-purpose Internet security book.

To do so, I had to break some conventions. Accordingly, this book probably differs from other Sams.net books in both content and form. Nevertheless, the book contains copious knowledge, and there are different ways to access it. This chapter briefly outlines how the reader can most effectively access and implement that knowledge.

Is This Book of Practical Use?

Is this book of practical use? Absolutely. It can serve both as a reference book and a general primer. The key for each reader is to determine what information is most important to him or her. The book loosely follows two conventional designs common to books by Sams.net:

This book is a hybrid of both techniques. For example, the book examines services in the TCP/IP suite, then quickly progresses to how those services are integrated in modern browsers, how such services are compromised, and ultimately, how to secure against such compromises. In this respect, there is an evolutionary pattern to the book.

At the same time, the book begins with a general examination of the structure of the Internet and TCP/IP (which will seem light in comparison to later analyses of sniffing, where you examine the actual construct of an information packet). As you progress, the information becomes more and more advanced. In this respect, there is a developmental pattern to the book.

Using This Book Effectively: Who Are You?

Different people will derive different benefits from this book, depending on their circumstances. I urge each reader to closely examine the following categories. The information will be most valuable to you whether you are

I want to cover these categories and how this book can be valuable to each. If you do not fit cleanly into one of these categories, try the category that best describes you.

System Administrator

A system administrator is any person charged with managing a network or any portion of a network. Sometimes, people might not realize that they are a system administrator. In small companies, for example, programming duties and system administration are sometimes assigned to a single person. Thus, this person is a general, all-purpose technician. They keep the system running, add new accounts, and basically perform any task required on a day-to-day basis. This, for your purposes, is a system administrator.

What This Book Offers the System Administrator

This book presumes only basic knowledge of security from its system administrators, and I believe that this is reasonable. Many capable system administrators are not well versed in security, not because they are lazy or incompetent but because security was for them (until now) not an issue. For example, consider the sysad who lords over an internal LAN. One day, the powers that be decree that the LAN must establish a connection to the Net. Suddenly, that sysad is thrown into an entirely different (and hostile) environment. He or she might be exceptionally skilled at internal security but have little practical experience with the Internet. Today, numerous system administrators are faced with this dilemma. For many, additional funding to hire on-site security specialists is not available and thus, these people must go it alone. Not anymore. This book will serve such system administrators well as an introduction to Internet security.

Likewise, more experienced system administrators can effectively use this book to learn--or perhaps refresh their knowledge about--various aspects of Internet security that have been sparsely covered in books mass-produced for the general public.

For either class of sysad, this book will serve a fundamental purpose: It will assist them in protecting their network. Most importantly, this book shows the attack from both sides of the fence. It shows both how to attack and how to defend in a real-life, combat situation.

Hacker

The term hacker refers to programmers and not to those who unlawfully breach the security of systems. A hacker is any person who investigates the integrity and security of an operating system. Most commonly, these individuals are programmers. They usually have advanced knowledge of both hardware and software and are capable of rigging (or hacking) systems in innovative ways. Often, hackers determine new ways to utilize or implement a network, ways that software manufacturers had not expressly intended.

What This Book Offers the Hacker

This book presumes only basic knowledge of Internet security from its hackers and programmers. For them, this book will provide insight into the Net's most common security weaknesses. It will show how programmers must be aware of these weaknesses. There is an ever-increasing market for those who can code client/server applications, particularly for use on the Net. This book will help programmers make informed decisions about how to develop code safely and cleanly. As an added benefit, analysis of existing network utilities (and their deficiencies) may assist programmers in developing newer and perhaps more effective applications for the Internet.

Cracker

A cracker is any individual who uses advanced knowledge of the Internet (or networks) to compromise network security. Historically, this activity involved cracking encrypted password files, but today, crackers employ a wide range of techniques. Hackers also sometimes test the security of networks, often with the identical tools and techniques used by crackers. To differentiate between these two groups on a trivial level, simply remember this: Crackers engage in such activities without authorization. As such, most cracking activity is unlawful, illegal, and therefore punishable by a term of imprisonment.

What This Book Offers the Cracker

For the budding cracker, this book provides an incisive shortcut to knowledge of cracking that is difficult to acquire. All crackers start somewhere, many on the famous Usenet group alt.2600. As more new users flood the Internet, quality information about cracking (and security) becomes more difficult to find. The range of information is not well represented. Often, texts go from the incredibly fundamental to the excruciatingly technical. There is little material that is in between. This book will save the new cracker hundreds of hours of reading by digesting both the fundamental and the technical into a single (and I hope) well-crafted presentation.

Business Person

For your purposes, business person refers to any individual who has established (or will establish) a commercial enterprise that uses the Internet as a medium. Hence, a business person--within the meaning employed in this book--is anyone who conducts commerce over the Internet by offering goods or services.


NOTE: It does not matter whether these goods or services are offered free as a promotional service. I still classify this as business.

What This Book Offers the Business Person

Businesses establish permanent connections each day. If yours is one of them, this book will help you in many ways, such as helping you make informed decisions about security. It will prepare you for unscrupulous security specialists, who may charge you thousands of dollars to perform basic, system-administration tasks. This book will also offer a basic framework for your internal security policies. You have probably read dozens of dramatic accounts about hackers and crackers, but these materials are largely sensationalized. (Commercial vendors often capitalize on your fear by spreading such stories.) The techniques that will be employed against your system are simple and methodical. Know them, and you will know at least the basics about how to protect your data.

Journalist

A journalist is any party who is charged with reporting on the Internet. This can be someone who works for a wire news service or a college student writing for his or her university newspaper. The classification has nothing to do with how much money is paid for the reporting, nor where the reporting is published.

What This Book Offers the Journalist

If you are a journalist, you know that security personnel rarely talk to the media. That is, they rarely provide an inside look at Internet security (and when they do, this usually comes in the form of assurances that might or might not have value). This book will assist journalists in finding good sources and solid answers to questions they might have. Moreover, this book will give the journalist who is new to security an overall view of the terrain. Technology writing is difficult and takes considerable research. My intent is to narrow that field of research for journalists who want to cover the Internet. In coming years, this type of reporting (whether by print or broadcast media) will become more prevalent.

Casual User

A casual user is any individual who uses the Internet purely as a source of entertainment. Such users rarely spend more than 10 hours a week on the Net. They surf subjects that are of personal interest.

What This Book Offers the Casual User

For the casual user, this book will provide an understanding of the Internet's innermost workings. It will prepare the reader for personal attacks of various kinds, not only from other, hostile users, but from the prying eyes of government. Essentially, this book will inform the reader that the Internet is not a toy, that one's identity can be traced and bad things can happen while using the Net. For the casual user, this book might well be retitled How to Avoid Getting Hijacked on the Information Superhighway.

Security Specialist

A security specialist is anyone charged with securing one or more networks from attack. It is not necessary that they get paid for their services in order to qualify in this category. Some people do this as a hobby. If they do it, they are a specialist.

What This Book Offers the Security Specialist

If your job is security, this book can serve as one of two things:


NOTE: In this book, the void refers to that portion of the Internet that exists beyond your router or modem. It is the dark, swirling mass of machines, services, and users beyond your computer or network. These are quantities that are unknown to you. This term is commonly used in security circles to refer to such quantities.

Much of the information covered here will be painfully familiar to the security specialist. Some of the material, however, might not be so familiar. (Most notably, some cross-platform materials for those maintaining networks with multiple operating systems.) Additionally, this book imparts a comprehensive view of security, encapsulated into a single text. (And naturally, the materials on the CD-ROM will provide convenience and utility.)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

How you use this book is up to you. If you purchased or otherwise procured this book as a tool to facilitate illegal activities, so be it. You will not be disappointed, for the information contained within is well suited to such undertakings. However, note that this author does not suggest (nor does he condone) such activities. Those who unlawfully penetrate networks seldom do so for fun and often pursue destructive objectives. Considering how long it takes to establish a network, write software, configure hardware, and maintain databases, it is abhorrent to the hacking community that the cracking community should be destructive. Still, that is a choice and one choice--even a bad one--is better than no choice at all. Crackers serve a purpose within the scheme of security, too. They assist the good guys in discovering faults inherent within the network.

Whether you are good, bad, or ugly, here are some tips on how to effectively use this book: