Operating System Security
Activity Answers-1
0Activity Answers
Activity 1-1: Reviewing elements and mechanisms
found in operating systems
In this activity, you will compare Windows 2000 and Linux to discover how each
implements common operating system elements and security mechanisms.
1. Several common operating system elements or security elements are listed in
the left column of Table A1-1. Fill in the specific name of the Windows 2000
or Linux operating system element or mechanism that each operating system
supplies.
Table A1-1: Operating system elements and security mechanisms
Operating
System
Element or
Security
Mechanism
Windows 2000
Linux
User Account
Information
A Security Identifier (SID)
The /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow
Authentication
Control
The Security Accounts
Pluggable Authentication
Manager (SAM)
Modules (PAM)
and /etc/group files
Access Control Access Control Entries
Pluggable Authentication
(includes Windows 2000
Modules (PAM) and through
Discretionary ACL and
individual daemons and/or
System ACL)
applications
Data
The Encrypting File System
Encryption and (EFS)
Integrity
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Individual applications (e.g.,
md5sum, PGP and openssl)
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Operating System Security
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In this activity, you have identified how Windows 2000 and Linux implement
operating system elements and common security mechanisms.
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Operating System Security
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Activity 2-1: Identifying common operating system
security parameters
In this activity, you will review your understanding of various operating system
security parameters.
1. Give the common term for the description provided:
•
The practice of blocking a user account after repeated logon failure:
Account lockout
•
Automatically re-enabling an account after it is blocked:
Account reset
•
Passwords that use non-standard characters and are at least six characters
long:
Strong passwords
•
Remembering previously used passwords so they cannot be reused:
Password history
In this lab, you have identified commonly-used security parameters. All operating
systems contain their own implementations of the above parameters. As you gain
more security experience, you will be able to easily map abstract concepts to
actual implementation.
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Activity 3-1: Understanding shares and share points
In this activity, you will review the difference between shares and share points.
1. Study the graphic in Figure A3-1.
C:\
Share = Root
C:\ACCT
Share = Acct
C:\HR
Share = HR
C:\CORP
Share = Corp
C:\CORP\PUB
Share = Pub
C:\DATA
Share = Data
Figure A3-1: Studying shares and share points
This graphic suggests only share-level permissions. No NTFS-level permissions
apply. Now, answer the following questions:
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2. A user has just connected to the Pub share of your system. Describe why this
user cannot access the C:\Corp directory:
Because the share point is at C:\CORP\PUB. The share point limits access to
any directory higher up on the hard drive tree. Any directory further up the
hard drive tree is restricted to any user who connects to the Pub share point.
3. A user has just connected to the Acct share on the system. What subdirectories
will this user be able to access?
Any subfolder of the C:\ACCT folder, and no other.
4. Suppose that a user has accessed the Root share. What other directories, if
any, will this user be able to access?
All subdirectories on the hard drive. This is because this share allows access
to all folders beneath it.
In this activity, you have differentiated between shares and share points, and have
learned about how a share allows access to all subdirectories beneath a share
point.
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Activity 4-1: Identifying security risks
In this activity, you will review security risks discussed in this chapter.
1. Read the description in the left column of Table A4-1, then provide the
relevant network server, service or daemon.
Table A4-1: Describing network, service and daemon security issues
Network Service, Daemon or
Server
Security Issue
Cleartext transfer of maps
NIS
Possible confusion of usernames
and user id’s.
NFS
Weak authentication of remote
processes
Rlogin and the
portmapper
daemon
Susceptibility to keyloggers
Windows 2000
and Linux
Default shares
Windows 2000
Buffer overflows
Windows 2000
and Linux, as well
as all daemons,
services, and
applications
In this activity, you identified common problems associated with various services,
daemons and servers.
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Activity 5-1: Diagramming the SMB/CIFS connection
process
In this activity, you will explain how SMB/CIFS systems begin a connection and
negotiate a dialect.
1. In the following diagram, provide a step-by step diagram of the SMB
connection process.
In this activity, you have identified the steps of the SMB connection process
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