[luau] RH 9 server hacked -- what went wrong?

[Keith]

* Warren Togami <warren at togami.com> [22/08/2003 1850EDT]:
[...]
> > I like RH but they have a habbit of enabling nearly every service by
> > default. 
> 
> Eh?  This has not been true for years now.

I stand corrected!  Although I believe a safer default is to have most
-- if not all -- services off rather than on (especially true for
network daemons).  RH install procedures could do better to prompt the
user verbosely as to which services he/she wishes their box to run.  I
don't believe any such attempt at this is made.  Then again I could be
wrong; I haven't done an RH install since 1996 or '97.  These days I do
post install configuration and hardening of RH boxes and custom distro
development.  :)

> > 98% of the time there is no need for this.  Another good
> > practice is, after installing and before plugging the cat5 into your
> > NIC, run through your default runlevel's rc directory and turn all
> > unnecessary services off with chkconfig.  Issue a
> > 
> > 	bash$ chkconfig --list | grep :on
> 
> Total agreement with using chkconfig to see your automatically started
> services and disable things which you don't need.

Indeed this is critical if anyone would like a secure box.  Box cannot
be hacked over the 'net if no connect() can be made.  :)

Aloha!
krjw.
-- 
Keith R. John Warno                  [k r j w  at  optonline dot net]
The words stuck in  my mind\ Alive from what I've  learned\ I have to
seize the day
       -- Dream Theater, "A Change of Seasons"