Protecting Networks With Satan

SATAN (Security Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks) is a powerful aid for system administrators. It performs "security audits," scanning host computers for security vulnerabilities caused by erroneous configurations or by known software errors in frequently used programs. SATAN is a particularly interesting piece of software because it uses the Web as its front end.Readers should be particularly interested in SATAN because it has earned a lot of publicity -- even notoriety. The original SATAN paper reported details, for the first time outside the hacker community, on how insecure some often-used services on the Internet really are. The SATAN software provided a tool for automatic detection of such vulnerabilities. Because SATAN could be run on other sites, not only your own, many critics predicted that SATAN would wreak destruction on the Internet. The Oakland Tribune, for example, wrote: "It's like randomly mailing automatic rifles to 5000 addresses. I hope some crazy teen doesn't get a hold of one." The dire results predicted have not come to pass, and SATAN has become a useful tool in many system administrators' toolboxes.This small book describes not only how to install and use SATAN, but also how to extend its modular structure to adapt it to local requirements and increase its knowledge of specific security vulnerabilities.This book also discusses how you can defend your site against potential abuse by SATAN. You can configure the program to detect when a potential intruder employs the program against your host and network, and you can take appropriate measures to repel the attacks.

SATAN (Security Administrator's Tool for Analyzing Networks) is a powerful aid for system administrators. It performs "security audits," scanning host computers for security vulnerabilities caused by erroneous configurations or by known software errors in frequently used programs. SATAN is a particularly interesting piece of software because it uses the Web as its front end. This small book describes not only how to install and use SATAN, but also how to extend its modular structure to adapt it to local requirements and increase its knowledge of specific security vulnerabilities. It also discusses how you can defend your site against potential abuse by SATAN.

SATAN performs "security audits", scanning host computers for security vulnerabilities. This book describes how to install and use SATAN and how to adapt it to local requirements and increase its knowledge of specific security vulnerabilities.

 Table of Contents

Foreword 

Preface 

1. Security 
      What Is Security, Anyway? 
      Why Network Security? 
      A Network Security Audit 
2. Installing SATAN 
      Where to Get SATAN 
      System Requirements 
      Compiling and Installing SATAN 
      Repent! 
      Running SATAN Under Linux 
      Things That Might Go Wrong 
3. Security Audits 
      The Control Panel 
      Data Management 
      Configuring SATAN 
      Selecting and Scanning a Target 
      Analyzing the Scan Results 
4. Scan Results and Countermeasures 
      What SATAN Tests 
      Weaknesses and Countermeasures 
      How Critical Are the Detected Holes? 
      Additional Notes 
      Summary 
5. Extending and Adapting SATAN 
      Why Extend SATAN? 
      SATAN's Architecture 
      SATAN's Database Record Format 
      SATAN's Configuration File (satan.cf ) 
      Examples 
      SATAN in Large Networks 
6. Detecting and Repelling SATAN Attacks 
      When You Become SATAN's Target 
      Recognizing a SATAN Attack 
      Repelling SATAN and Other Attacks 
7. Beyond SATAN 
      Security Is More Than SATAN 
      What SATAN Does Not Find 
      The Security Policy 

A. Further Reading 

Index