[sf-lug] interlopers: how to defend oneself against.. (continued)

[Alex Kleider]

Rick: 
a couple of specific questions:
IS EVERY running process an exposure to attack
or only those that are LISTENNING?
This is relevant because it would be a much less daunting task for a
newbie like me to figure out exactly what each process that is
listening is doing and deciding if I need it and if so concentrating on
"hardening" it (study configuration issues, etc.) and if not killing
it..
as opposed to "being resposible" for EVERY running process. Each time 
I look at a complete list it seems endless and figuring out what each
one does is something that is probably not within my capability. 
There are many processes for which there is no man entry.
Am I on the right track here?
..the second question:
Are you going so far as to say that firewalling is totally redundant?
or is that an overstatement of your position?
There may be relevance here with regard to the concept of a DMZ: a
subject I've been reading about (putting servers serving the outside in
side one and leaving your private network on the other side of the
inside firewall.) This idea fades if you don't think firewalling is
worth doing.
And finally (for now at least :-) if one would like to be able to ssh
(including scp and sftp) to a home linux computer (one of several,
including some MS Windows boxes) on a network, is there a specific
network architecture that you'd recommend?
Alex


alex at kleider.net


       
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