Section 1.12 Preparing for and Detecting an Intrusion

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1.12 Preparing for and Detecting an Intrusion

Periodically, security holes in programs are detected and, unfortunately, some are discovered by crackers poring over the source or experimenting. While some detractors claim that this is a weakness of Linux, the reality is that with so many people looking at the code, problems are found and fixed quickly, frequently within a day. It is this author's experience that a closed-source vendor will take from a month to a year to fix many serious problems. An intelligent person does not leave burning candles unattended nor does she smoke in bed, but still installs smoke detectors and carries insurance. We look at many important steps to take in preparing for a possible intrusion and for detecting attempts and even the rare successful intrusion.

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