Administrators managing servers running Red Hat Linux or MandrakeSofts Linux-Mandrake can look forward to an updated version of the Bastille Linux security-hardening program to be released very soon.
I praised Bastille Linux 1.1 last year for its comprehensiveness and ease of use. The 1.2 release, which was in Release Candidate 3 stage as of mid-April, adds a graphical client, supports current versions of Red Hat Linux and Linux-Mandrake, and is able to do a more complete job of analyzing system configurations than before.
The package walked me through setting up a local firewall, removing root permissions from executables that didnt need this power, limiting root log-ins to the console, setting a password on the Linux boot loader Linux Loader, deactivating unneeded devices, setting resource usage limits and making a number of other security-conscious changes.
Each configuration choice in the software is accompanied by a clearly written explanation of what the program is going to do, why the action is important and what possible side effects there might be.
Further reading
The software is available at www.bastille-linux.org.
