IP Filters and Masq for Linux

[Mailing Lists <mlist almerco ca>]

Hi, I have some questions concerning the ipfwadm and RedHat.

I'm building a firewall for a small cie, and propose using a bare RedHat
5.1 (without any mean to connect to it, except through sshd) and have it
acting as a firewall between the DMZ and the internal network.  I plan to
do this only using the ipfwadm utility (IP filtering + masquerading).  No
redirs inside the internal network, and permissions for everyone inside to
contact anyone outside.  No java, activex or javascript filtering.

What are the downs/ups of such a config.  How could someone gain access to
a computer inside the firewall, is there any way?  (most are NT Wks 4.0 in
PDC BDC environment)

Anything I should pay special attention?  I'm planning to use a logchecker
and tripwire to report anything unusual.

Any comments will be appreciated.

If someone else is interested, I'll post a resume of all the answers I'll
be getting to the list.

Thanks!