In this course, you'll learn about the importance of physical security and the threats posed by attackers who gain unauthorized physical access to your Linux system. We'll cover a range of points to consider when securing your Linux systems and the best strategies to take.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the security challenges you'll face both when in direct control of your physical systems and when you use a third party to host them
- Understand what to look for when choosing a third-party provider
- Understand the physical security implications of using cloud environments
- Learn specific strategies for mitigating physical security risks and protecting your Linux systems against the most common physical attacks
- Learn about data encryption and how to implement it on new Linux systems, as well as those that are already in service
Intended Audience
This course is intended for anyone who wants a solid grasp of physical security considerations for their Linux system.
Prerequisites
To get the most out of this course, you should already have a good working knowledge of Linux. If you want to brush up on your Linux skills, consider taking our Learn Linux in 5 Days learning path first.
What we've been talking about is encrypting a new device. But what if you want to encrypt a device that already has data? There isn't a tool to do that conversion, really. You would first take a backup of that device, let's say you want to protect the contents of /home and it lives on its own partition. First, back up the contents of /home. You could tar up the contents and store it on another server, for example. From there you follow the same procedure as you did with a new device. You override the contents of that partition with a utility like shred, then you luksFormat that device, then you luksOpen open that device, create a new file system on it, and then finally mount it. Once it's mounted, restore the backup to this newly encrypted device. Finally, configure FCFs tab and Etsy Crip tab, and you're done.
Jason is the founder of the Linux Training Academy as well as the author of "Linux for Beginners" and "Command Line Kung Fu." He has over 20 years of professional Linux experience, having worked for industry leaders such as Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, UPS, FireEye, and Amazon.com. Nothing gives him more satisfaction than knowing he has helped thousands of IT professionals level up their careers through his many books and courses.