[Tfug] vsftpd security

[George Cohn]

Brian Murphy wrote:

> 
> You should make sure that automatic updates are enabled.  The command to
> run is "chkconfig yum on".

Say what?  Some of us don't run Fedora you know.  ;-)

I just run apt-get update and apt-get upgrade once a week.  That way, I 
can see what it's doing.  (Debian Sarge)

And the answer to the question was take a look at your /var/log 
directory and check the logs.  In my case, it was the vsftpd.log that 
tipped me off.

If you run vsftpd, you might want to make sure that
anonymous_enable=no to turn off anonymous ftp.  The default is yes for 
allow.

Also, userlist_deny=yes, userlist_enable=yes, and create a userlist_file 
at /etc/userlist_file with a list of the authorized user names allowed 
to access the server via ftp.

What this does is check incoming connections to see if the name is in 
the authorized user list.  If not, it boots them before prompting for a 
password.

And use strong passwords like AxZ593&cr.  Those cannot be guessed using 
a dictionary attack where they compare encrypted words against a 
standard English dictionary if they manage to download the password file.

See Harry, I was awake in your classes!  ;-)

George Cohn