security

Manually installing pip

While running python setup.py install is simple and easy, it doesn't always work when you want to install some things (such as pip in my case). Especially when you have multiple versions of Python and you're not using virtualenv. To install pip on Python 2.7, this is what will make your life a...

Unable to upgrade Metasploit in Back Track R3?

So, I ran into the issue of msfupdate not updating Metasploit on my BackTrack installation. It worked fine on my laptop, but wouldn't on my home server. I didn't even get the typical SSL library issues that occur on initial install. Heck, even the usual svn update didn't work for me. What I...

PostgreSQL – Updating From 8.x to 9.x

I installed Back Track recently, which is based on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). As such, it's not got the most up to date software, even with it operating on it's own repos. So, when I migrated a site over that was used to PostgreSQL 9.1, to the new server running PostgreSQL 8.4, the database...

Getting Into Linux Security (Part 2)

Earlier this month I started a series about breaking into the Linux security field (part 1: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/security-admin/getting-into-linux-security-part-1/). I'm going to continue this with more tools of the trade to start learning.

Shorewall

Shorewall Firewall

Linux is well known for it's networking capabilities. This includes turning an old dusty machine in your house into a home grown firewall or even PBX (a fun weekend project, by the way). But with just about everything else involving Linux, there's a million ways to solve one problem. Such is...

Getting Into Linux Security (Part 1)

There's a big increase lately in terms of Linux security and how to get into the field.  Some can get by only knowing basic command line arguments, others require a CISSP to even be considered.  But, experience in the field itself shows more than anything, even if you're sitting at your desk...

Privacy Policy and Big Brother

Recently there's been a lot of hysteria about privacy and the controls to it. A good instance of this is Facebook, which has essentially been under the gun ever since (or even before) it's IPO failure earlier this year. The idea behind privacy policies are nice, but short of being something to...

Review: Snort GUI – Snorby

Typical Snort installs have you installing BASE for a graphical front-end to view packet information. While the UI is fluid, it's also very outdated. It has the coding standards of 1995-2000, with limited functionality in it (just enough to get what you want and get out). As such, there's been...

Shell Portscanner

Many, many people have heard of nmap before. The infamous port scanner that does everything you can think of. This is great if you're wanting to do recon on a network, but what if you just want to see what ports are open on a network without all the extra special features? Easy, you use...

IPv6 Startup Script

After writing this article: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/security-admin/ipv6-and-linux/ I decided to write a simple script that will allow you to start and stop the IPv6 functionality pretty easily. The script is pretty well commented and easy to use: #!/bin/bash # This...