On Sunday 17 February 2008, Grant wrote:

> > What wasn't mentioned is that SSL covers transport encryption, not
> > necessarily application security.  What that means is if you open IMAP,
> > SMTP, CUPS, and SSH daemons over the internet then you also need to keep
> > (better) track of security vulnerabilities found in those applications,
> > and fix them as needed.  SSL alone won't help you there.  Whereas if
> > you're only running, say OpenVPN over the Internet then that's the only
> > application you gotta look out for.
> >
> > Also, doing things such as running IMAP over SSL using accounts with
> > weak passwords doesn't gain you much either.
>
> Good points Albert.  Is a daily 'emerge --sync && emerge -avDuN world'
> generally enough as far as tracking security vulnerabilities?

It will sure help.  So will strong passwds, denyhosts, or fail2ban and 
equivalents, a well configured IDS, etc. and close monitoring of the log 
files.  Let's be honest, a machine that runs services has the potential to 
get cracked one way or another.  A well configured machine has a 
disproportionately small probability of getting cracked, than your average 
WinXP IT illiterate user around the world.  So, it's really a matter of how 
paranoid you would like to get about it.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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