[asterisk-users] aSTERISK / Vicidial systems over 4MB fiber

[Lyle Giese]

Tilghman Lesher wrote:
> On Thursday 12 June 2008 03:23:46 Mark Adams wrote:
>   
>> I appreciate the responses thus far but I am looking to find out what type
>> of security I should implement for the future. Being new to linux, not to
>> mention asterisk I didn't realize that someone could brute force into the
>> box and upload crap. With that in mind it seems that I would want to get a
>> hardware firewall such as a hotbrick or a sonicwall firewall.
>>     
>
> One of the most frequent security issues comes not in the form of a software
> flaw, but simply in people choosing easy-to-guess passwords on the root
> account.  There are two suggestions I have to reduce the risk of this
> brute force.  First, choose a username that is uncommon.  In your case, do not
> use 'root', 'admin', or even 'mark'.  'madams' might be a good choice.  Once
> you figure out that username, configure sshd with the AllowUsers directive to
> ONLY allow logins from that user.  If you need root access, install sudo.  If
> an attacker cannot figure out what your username is, then it doesn't matter
> even if they guess your password, because they aren't getting in.
>
> And of course, the second part is choosing a secure password, one that
> contains mixed case, numbers, letters, and symbols.  Don't be afraid to write
> down that secure password, as long as you keep it on your person (wallet is a
> good choice).  99% of the attackers who might otherwise compromise your
> machine will never come within 1000 miles of you.  However, your wallet
> contains things that are far more valuable than your password (your identity
> documents, for example), so it is hoped that you will be able to keep that
> password away from people who would otherwise do you harm.
>
>   
Most recent hacks that I have first or second hand knowledge of came
from ssh issues. Most inexperienced admins will expose ssh without using
the 'allowgroups' option in their sshd_config and will get hacked by
someone logging in via ssh using a system account with no password.

The second thing to do with ssh is to move it to another port to keep
the script kiddies from pounding on it. If there is a weak or missing
password, they will find it.

An encrypted USB thumbdrive is also a good storage device for passwords.
I use TrueCrypt and have the executable availble unencrypted on the
thumbdrive so I could plug it into almost any machine and get to the
encrypted data.

Lyle Giese
LCR Computer Services, Inc.

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