Page Comparison

Example of IP Tables configuration that will only allow UT campus networks to access a system remotely via SSH.  The networks listed below include various wired, wireless, and VPN networks.

Note: To access these systems from off-campus, users will need to utilize the UT VPN client available at https://vpn.utexas.edu

:INPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
:FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0]
:OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0]
-A INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 128.62.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 128.83.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 129.116.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 146.6.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 172.29.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 198.213.192.0/18 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 206.76.64.0/18 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 10.144.0.0/12 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 128.62.0/16 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 146.6.248.0/21 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -S 198.213.192.0/18 -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -s 206.76.64.0/18 -j ACCEPT 
-A INPUT -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
-A INPUT -j DROP
COMMIT

Password Complexity

• Passwords 101 - Information Security Office
• How to create a good, strong password

• The Importance of Strong Passwords

• Keep Safe with Strong Passwords

• Tips for Keeping Your UT EID Password Secure

On most Linux systems, you can use PAM to enforce password complexity. If you have a file in RHEL/CentOS named /etc/pam.d/system-auth-ac

Example:  Modify pam passwd requirements, length of 12 with special, upper, and lower cases plus a number:

/etc/pam.d/system-auth-ac

#password    requisite     pam_cracklib.so try_first_pass retry=3 type=
password    requisite     pam_cracklib.so try_first_pass retry=3 minlen=10 ucredit=-1 dcredit=-1 ocredit=-1 lcredit=-1

/etc/login.defs
PASS_MAX_DAYS   9999999
PASS_MIN_DAYS   0
PASS_MIN_LEN    12
PASS_WARN_AGE   7

To change some of the defaults at user creation time

/etc/default/useradd   

GROUP=1000   <-setting a default group doesn't seem to work. specify with useradd -g <groupname> <username>

#HOME=/home 
HOME=/group/users
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel
#CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL=yes
CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL=no

System Accounts

Files/Directory Permissions/Access

• Enable system accounting (install package sysstat).
• Integrity checking of system accounts, group memberships, and their associated privileges should be enabled and tested.
  • Check in /etc/sudoers to see who has sudo rights
  • Check in /etc/groups to see what groups your users belong to
  • Check in /etc/passwd and/or /etc/shadow for blank passwords
• All administrator or root access must be logged.

System Access, Authentication, and Authorization

• Enable the terminal security file to restrict root logins to system console only.  Do not allow root logins via SSH.
• Ensure the following are set in /etc/pam.d/other:

     auth  required pam_deny.so
     auth   required pam_warn.so
     account  required pam_deny.so
     account  required pam_warn.so
     password  required pam_deny.so
     password  required pam_warn.so
     session  required pam_deny.so
     session  required pam_warn.so
     session  required pam_deny.so 
      Warn will report alerts to syslog.