A critical component of network security is being aware of what is occurring on your systems so you can spot security problems before they become a big headache. The Abacus Project is a suite of free security tools that allows administrators to monitor critical aspects of system operations on a variety of Unix hosts to help increase their awareness.
The core components of the project attempt to address the more common indicators of an attack such as: 1) Strange messages in audit files indicating errors or invalid input that indicate security problems. 2) Port probes that are a pre-cursor to attack and compromise. 3) Compromised user accounts and suspicious user activity.
The three currently released tools address the above issues using generic techniques that work on a number systems. These tools are: Logcheck, PortSentry, and HostSentry.
This talk will detail why it is important to watch your systems closely for problems and how these and other free security tools can help bolster your site security using a variety of simple techniques.