ISXUbuntu/Documentation

ISXUbuntu Documentation

Right now the documentation is just a bare outline that needs to be filled in. This wiki should serve as a place to gather all the information into one place. We will worry about making it presentable to end users later.

Developer Documentation

• How to use Cloudsmith
  • Requires java
• How to build an iso
• How to run and test
  • Using xen
  • chroot
• How to create a package file
  • Debian Maintainers Guide has documentation
  • Using Alien to convert between package types
  • How to create a package file for mozilla plugins

End user documentation

What ISXUbuntu is, and how to use it

• What Linux/Ubuntu is
  • Why it is secure
• How ISXUbuntu differs
  • List changes we made, and why we did them
• How to harden a standard Ubuntu distribution to be like ISXUbuntu
• Additional security measures we didn't include in ISXUbuntu

How the internet works and why you should care

• IP
  • What IP is
    • Brief History
    • TCP, UDP
  • IP security issues
    • Snooping on ethernet
    • ethernet arp spoofing
    • man in the middle attacks, ethernet arp spoofing
    • ip routes can be hijacked (like what happened to youtube)
    • tcp sequence guessing (Is this a big deal? I'm not sure)

• DNS
  • What dns is
    • Brief history
  • DNS security issues
    • your local dns could be hijacked to point you to fake sites
    • some viruses install entries in the windows hosts file
    • your local dns could be cache poisoned

• Domains
  • can be fake
  • or typo domains
  • or have been taken over when lapsed
  • or simply stolen (like what happened to comcast)
  • Malware can be added to an otherwise trusted site. For example http://citibank.com/vx123.exe should not be trusted, even if it comes from the Citibank web site

• Using a browser smartly
  • how to tell if you are using an encrypted session (some people believe lock icons on the page itself even if the browser is showing an unlocked lock).
  • What browser warning certificate warning messages mean
  • Cross site scripting (how do browser users defend against this?)
  • How cookies allow sites like doubleclick to track you from site to site
  • Privacy Policies: They can say that a company will sell your information to whoever will pay for it (examples?)
  • Smart shopping: Using paypal, secure code, temporary credit card numbers
  • Information to protect: Don't give out your social security number online! (what else?)

How your computer works, and why you should care

• What a program is
• The viruses of the DOS era
• Word macro viruses
• Modern malware
• How the linux file permission module protects you
  • Will prevent system wide programs from being overwritten by users and the programs they run
  • Will not protect your home directory
• How phishers get people to run malware programs