{"id":876,"date":"2017-01-24T19:39:04","date_gmt":"2017-01-24T17:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.virtono.com\/?p=876"},"modified":"2023-06-21T10:56:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T07:56:22","slug":"linux-security-the-user-and-superuser-concept-and-how-and-why-it-keeps-your-computer-secure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/knowledgebase\/linux-security-the-user-and-superuser-concept-and-how-and-why-it-keeps-your-computer-secure\/","title":{"rendered":"Linux security : The user and superuser concept and how and why it keeps your computer secure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Security is an important but complex topic.<\/p>\n

So I’ll be doing a series of articles, focusing on the principles and working of security of Linux.<\/p>\n

The challenge is that it\u2019s an ever-changing idea. Software we think of as secure can become insecure as hackers figure out how to break though whatever safeguards were once coded in.<\/p>\n

For users, it means being vigilant\u2014staying on top of your system and considering security a recurring task rather than something you do once and can then be considered finished. In this article, I\u2019m going to run through the best practices for keeping your system secure. I\u2019m not a hacker or a security expert so I\u2019m not going to get very detailed. Instead, I\u2019m going to explain some basic, fundamental, and essential security concepts and give you a few manageable things to do to keep your computer secure. In this series of articles, we\u2019re going to discuss:<\/p>\n

\u25a0 The user and superuser concept and how and why it keeps your computer secure<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Linux viruses (and anti-viruses)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Linux firewalls<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Privacy on Linux<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Best practices in running commands safely<\/a><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Hardening Linux:OS Hardening Principles<\/a><\/p>\n

Security issues can send personal information, like logins and passwords, to malicious third parties. These issues can also give these same bad people access to all of your personal files.
\nThink of security bugs as a hole in your home. With the hole there, things, like burglars, can get into your home. And think of security updates as patches for the holes. With the holes covered, it\u2019s much tougher for someone to get in. Now let\u2019s talk about other ways to keep your system secure. Let\u2019s start with the Linux user and superuser concepts. This idea is the key to keeping Linux systems safe.<\/p>\n

Users and superusers in Linux<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you think about it, security is about preventing someone from doing something without your permission. In real life, it could be someone stealing something from you, which by definition happens without your permission. With your computer, it could be someone stealing data from you, again, without your permission.<\/p>\n

Superusers are users with certain privileges on a system. These privileges are permissions. Superusers have permission to do certain things on a system, like install software, configure internet access, and even print. That\u2019s why you need to enter your password before you add or remove software.<\/p>\n

Because you don\u2019t want just anyone installing software on your system. Otherwise, they could install something mean and nasty. Linux has a list of users who can perform certain tasks and if you\u2019re not on the list, you can\u2019t do those tasks\u2014like installing or removing software. Malicious programs work by installing something without your consent. These malicious programs can then do anything from destroying your data to sending out all of your private data, including valuable pieces, like passwords.<\/p>\n

The Linux permissions concept makes it hard for someone to install something without your consent. Linux has a bunch of user groups with certain permissions, or access rights, based upon the user group to which they\u2019re assigned. This is helpful on systems with more than one user, like if you share your laptop with someone (or a group of people). Every person can have their own set of permissions, which prevents an unauthorized or unknowledgeable person from doing something that might harm the computer.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s pretend you\u2019re going to share your computer with someone who doesn\u2019t know much about Linux. You\u2019re going to want to make a new user with restricted permissions. Let\u2019s do that so you can see what that process looks like, and so you can get a sense of how these permissions keep your computer safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Security is an important but complex topic. So I’ll be doing a series of articles, focusing on the principles and working of security of Linux. The challenge is that it\u2019s an ever-changing idea. Software we think of as secure can become insecure as hackers figure out how to break though<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledgebase"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/unnamed-file.jpg?fit=500%2C590&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7ISfL-e8","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":884,"url":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/knowledgebase\/linux-security-running-commands-safely\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":0},"title":"Linux Security: Running commands safely","author":"Daniel Draga","date":"January 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Security is an important but complex topic. So I'll be doing a series of articles, focusing on the principles and working of security of Linux. The challenge is that it\u2019s an ever-changing idea. Software we think of as secure can become insecure as hackers figure out how to break though\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Knowledgebase"","block_context":{"text":"Knowledgebase","link":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/category\/knowledgebase\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/9.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/9.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/9.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/9.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/9.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":881,"url":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/knowledgebase\/linux-security-privacy-on-linuxencryption\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":1},"title":"Linux Security: Privacy on Linux(Encryption)","author":"Daniel Draga","date":"January 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Security is an important but complex topic. So I'll be doing a series of articles, focusing on the principles and working of security of Linux. The challenge is that it\u2019s an ever-changing idea. 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With the Protection Service for Business (PSB), this changes everything. It is a unique breakthrough on technology which provides total protection yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Knowledgebase"","block_context":{"text":"Knowledgebase","link":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/category\/knowledgebase\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cloud-security.jpg?fit=767%2C538&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cloud-security.jpg?fit=767%2C538&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cloud-security.jpg?fit=767%2C538&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/cloud-security.jpg?fit=767%2C538&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":873,"url":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/knowledgebase\/hardening-linux\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":4},"title":"Hardening Linux:OS Hardening Principles","author":"Daniel Draga","date":"January 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hardening Linux and Using iptables There's tremendous value in isolating your bastion (Internet-accessible) hosts in a DMZ network, protected by a well-designed firewall and other external controls. And just as a good DMZ is designed assuming that sooner or later, even firewall-protected hosts may be compromised, good bastion server design\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Knowledgebase"","block_context":{"text":"Knowledgebase","link":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/category\/knowledgebase\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Linux_Server_Hardening.jpeg?fit=1170%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Linux_Server_Hardening.jpeg?fit=1170%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Linux_Server_Hardening.jpeg?fit=1170%2C822&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Linux_Server_Hardening.jpeg?fit=1170%2C822&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.virtono.com\/community\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Linux_Server_Hardening.jpeg?fit=1170%2C822&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/www.virtono.com\/community\/tutorial-how-to\/securing-linux-web-server\/","url_meta":{"origin":876,"position":5},"title":"Securing Ubuntu or Debian Linux Web Server","author":"Daniel Draga","date":"October 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Securing your server is important, we'll discuss it in this article why?, but lets begin securing your server right now, with these, quick and small steps towards a secured server. 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