Re: [PLUG] Unneeded programs running on startup

[Will Dyson <will_dyson@pobox.com>]

Bradley Molnar wrote:

> tripwire is a firewalling type software.  I don't know too much more about
> it than that.  It might only be intrusion detection.

Yep, only intrusion detection.

Specificly, tripwire builds a database of the checksums of all your files 
(actually, probably only stuff under /usr or whatever). It then periodicly 
checks the actuall files against this database. It informs you if any 
files have changed since the database was built.

This is usefull for reassuring yourself that nobody has broken into your 
machine and say, replaced your login binary with an evil version that 
collects passwords and mails them out to badguys. Of course, that assumes 
that the checksum database is stored on a medium that the cracker couldn't 
have changed to match the new binary (pehaps a cd-r or a removable drive 
with a physical write-protect tab).

Overkill for a home system, especially if you aren't running any network 
servers that could be subverted by crackers.

--
Will Dyson
"Back off man, I'm a scientist!" -Dr. Peter Venkman


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