Linux Server Security (2nd Edition( [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Acknowledgments

For the most part, my writing career has centered on describing how
to implement and use software that I didn't write. I
am therefore much indebted to and even a little in awe of the
hundreds of outstanding programmers who create the operating systems
and applications I use and write about. They are the rhinoceroses
whose backs I peck for insects.

As if I weren't beholden to those programmers
already, I routinely seek and receive first-hand advice and
information directly from them. Among these generous souls are Jay
Beale of the
Bastille
Linux project, Ron Forrester of Tripwire Open Source,
Balazs
"Bazsi" Scheidler of Syslog-ng and
Zorp renown, and Renaud Deraison of the Nessus project.

Special thanks go to Dr. Wietse Venema of the IBM T.J. Watson
Research Center for reviewing and helping me correct the SMTP
chapter. Not to belabor the point, but I find it remarkable that
people who already volunteer so much time and energy to create
outstanding free software also tend to be both patient and generous
in returning email from complete strangers.

Bill Lubanovic wrote the section on djbdns in Chapter 6, Securing Domain Name Services
(DNS); all of the new Chapter 8,
Database Security; and all of Chapter 10, Securing Web
Serversbrilliantly, in my humble opinion. In
addition, Bill has taken over and revised Chapter 13, Simple Intrusion Detection
Techniques. He's brought a great deal of
real-world experience, skill, and humor to these four chapters. I
could not have finished this book on schedule (and its web security
chapter, in particular, would be less convincing!) without
Bill's contributions.

Linux Journal and its publisher, Specialized
Systems Consultants Inc., very graciously allowed me to adapt a
number of my "Paranoid Penguin"
columns for inclusion in this book; Chapters Chapter 1 through Chapter 7, plus
Chapters Chapter 11, Chapter 12,
and Chapter 13 contain (or are descended from) such
material. It has been and continues to be a pleasure to write for
Linux Journal, and it's safe to
say that I wouldn't have had enough credibility as a
writer to get this book published had it not been for them.

My approach to security lately has been strongly influenced by
Yuemei Zhang
and Bill Wurster, both of whom have been not only
outstanding role models but valued friends. Dr. Martin R.
Carmichael's infectious
passion for information security has also been a major influence.

It should but won't go without saying that
I'm very grateful to Andy Oram and
O'Reilly for this opportunity and for their
marvelous support, guidance, and patience. The impressions many
people have of O'Reilly being stupendously savvy,
well organized, technologically superior, and in all ways hip are
completely accurate.

A number of technical reviewers also assisted in fact checking and
otherwise keeping me honest. Rik Farrow, Bradford Willke, Steve
Beaty, Stephen J. Lombardo, Ivan Ristic, and Joshua Ball helped
immensely to improve the book's accuracy and
usefulness.

In creating and testing code and configuration samples for three
different Linux distributions, I benefited enormously from the
donation of two copies of VMWareWorkstation 4.5 from VMWare, Inc.
Their generosity and the quality of their software are greatly
appreciated.

Finally, in the inevitable amorphous list, I want to thank the
following valued friends and colleagues, all of whom have aided,
abetted, and encouraged me as both a writer and as a
"netspook": Dr. Dennis R. Guster at
St. Cloud State University; KoniKaye and Jerry Jeschke at Upstream
Solutions; Steve Rose at Vector Internet Services (who hired me
way before I knew anything useful); David W.
Stacy of St. Jude Medical; Marty J. Wolf at Bemidji State University;
John B. Weaver of the JBW Group, without whose
support I honestly could not have finished the second edition; the
Reverend Gonzo at Musicscene.org; Richard Vernon and Don Marti at
Linux Journal; Jay Gustafson of Ingenious
Networks; Ray Kaplan, whose talent is surpassed only by his
character; brothers-in-arms Tim Shea, Tony Bautts, Wayland Shiu, Nate
Duzenberry, Tim Warner, Bob Gleason, and Andy Smith; and, of course,
my dizzyingly adept pals Paul Cole, Tony Stieber, and Jeffrey Dunitz.