Top 10 Linux security tutorials for sysadmins from 2022

As it is every year, cybersecurity has been in the news in 2022 for many reasons, including ransomware and remote software exploits. Sysadmins need to be very vigilant about their infrastructure and look for ways to be more efficient in protecting it.

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By understanding how systems work, you can learn how to set them up properly and discover issues before they become security incidents.

Top 10 security articles of 2022

Security is never a dull topic, and Enable Sysadmin has many resources to learn and improve your skills.

Here are the 10 most popular resources Enable Sysadmin published in 2022 to help get you started.

• How to replace HTTP with HTTPS to help protect your network by Jose Vincente Nunez: Learn how to improve your web services' security by adding a layer of encryption with SSL.
• How to replace Telnet and FTP with SSH and SFTP to help protect your network by Jose Vincente Nunez: Are you still using Telnet and FTP? Read this article to see how easy it is to compromise their security and what you should use instead.
• How to encrypt sensitive data in playbooks with Ansible Vault by Robert Kimani: It is a bad idea to include passwords or sensitive data in a configuration file, especially if those files are managed with Git. Instead, you can encrypt secrets and other sensitive information and make it available only to the right users. Let this article show you the way.
• How to find third-party vulnerabilities in your Java code by Jose Vincente Nunez: Java applications use multiple open source dependencies because they allow you to leverage other people's work when writing applications. However, you need tools to proactively monitor them for reported vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in your environment. Here's how.
• How to find third-party vulnerabilities in your Python code by Jose Vincente Nunez: Like your Java programs, you must also take care of your Python applications. Don't worry; this article suggests good tools to automate these checks before a warning becomes a problem.
• How to configure firewalld quickly by Damon Garn: If you set up a rule using IPTables, firewalld can help you with the process and make your setup a repeatable success. Here's how to do it.
• How to configure your CA trust list in Linux by James Force: Learn how and why to use fine-grained controls to define who to trust in your network in this article.
• How to troubleshoot SELinux policy violations by Peter Gervase: SELinux is the ultimate barrier to preventing abuse from an application in your system, but it is a complex tool. This article gives you tips to try when things don't work as expected.
• How to hide PID listings from non-root users in Linux by Emad Al-Mousa: Sometimes, you need extra privacy on a shared server to protect your users. Check out this technique you can use to achieve exactly that.
• How to set user password expirations on Linux by Evans Amoany: It is a good idea to let passwords expire. If they get compromised, at least they cannot be reused to attack your infrastructure. This piece lets you quickly and effectively manage password expirations.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

I hope you find these articles useful in helping to protect your network from intruders or insider errors. And if you have a security survival tip, consider sharing it by writing for Enable Sysadmin. Join our community and continue the tradition of knowledge sharing that makes the Linux ecosystem great.

[ Learning path: What is Security Token Service (STS) in Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA)? ]