Protecting Networks With Satan

Description:

SATAN (Security Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks) is a powerful aid for system administrators. It performs "security audits," scanning host computers for security vulnerabilities caused by erroneous configurations or by known software errors in frequently used programs. SATAN is a particularly interesting piece of software because it uses the Web as its front end.

Readers should be particularly interested in SATAN because it has earned a lot of publicity -- even notoriety. The original SATAN paper reported details, for the first time outside the hacker community, on how insecure some often-used services on the Internet really are. The SATAN software provided a tool for automatic detection of such vulnerabilities. Because SATAN could be run on other sites, not only your own, many critics predicted that SATAN would wreak destruction on the Internet. The Oakland Tribune, for example, wrote: "It's like randomly mailing automatic rifles to 5000 addresses. I hope some crazy teen doesn't get a hold of one." The dire results predicted have not come to pass, and SATAN has become a useful tool in many system administrators' toolboxes.

This small book describes not only how to install and use SATAN, but also how to extend its modular structure to adapt it to local requirements and increase its knowledge of specific security vulnerabilities.

This book also discusses how you can defend your site against potential abuse by SATAN. You can configure the program to detect when a potential intruder employs the program against your host and network, and you can take appropriate measures to repel the attacks.

Table of Contents:

Foreword

Preface

1. Security

     What Is Security, Anyway?

     Why Network Security?

     A Network Security Audit

2. Installing SATAN

     Where to Get SATAN

     System Requirements

     Compiling and Installing SATAN

     Repent!

     Running SATAN Under Linux

     Things That Might Go Wrong

3. Security Audits

     The Control Panel

     Data Management

     Configuring SATAN

     Selecting and Scanning a Target
     Analyzing the Scan Results

4. Scan Results and Countermeasures

     What SATAN Tests

     Weaknesses and Countermeasures

     How Critical Are the Detected Holes?

     Additional Notes

     Summary

5. Extending and Adapting SATAN

     Why Extend SATAN?

     SATAN's Architecture

     SATAN's Database Record Format

     SATAN's Configuration File (satan.cf )

     Examples

     SATAN in Large Networks

6. Detecting and Repelling SATAN Attacks

     When You Become SATAN's Target

     Recognizing a SATAN Attack

     Repelling SATAN and Other Attacks

7. Beyond SATAN

     Security Is More Than SATAN

     What SATAN Does Not Find

     The Security Policy

A. Further Reading

Index