Chapter 7: Hardening a Unix Server

"A hardened server drastically reduces the attack surface area, therefore minimizing exposure to threats. It helps to get rid of weaker default settings and to meet compliance."

– Faraz Ahmad, IT security consultant

If you are used to managing Windows systems and servers, then managing Unix-based systems and servers may become a very complex task. But don't worry, we have your back, and we will start from the basics so that you can easily follow this chapter.

Here, we will be covering the commands used in most Unix-based systems (including Linux). Despite the fact that there might be some differences between Unix systems, the structures and examples in this chapter should apply to the most common Unix systems (including Linux).

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following main topics:

• A complete guide to Unix services (how they work and how to manage them)
• How permissions work on Unix systems...