Security: Updates, 2017 Linux Security Summit, Software Updates for Embedded Linux and More

• Security updates for Tuesday

• The 2017 Linux Security Summit

  The past Thursday and Friday was the 2017 Linux Security Summit, and once again I think it was a great success. A round of thanks to James Morris for leading the effort, the program committee for selecting a solid set of talks (we saw a big increase in submissions this year), the presenters, the attendees, the Linux Foundation, and our sponsor - thank you all! Unfortunately we don't have recordings of the talks, but I've included my notes on each of the presentations below. I've also included links to the slides, but not all of the slides were available at the time of writing; check the LSS 2017 slide archive for updates.

• Key Considerations for Software Updates for Embedded Linux and IoT

  The Mirai botnet attack that enslaved poorly secured connected embedded devices is yet another tangible example of the importance of security before bringing your embedded devices online. A new strain of Mirai has caused network outages to about a million Deutsche Telekom customers due to poorly secured routers. Many of these embedded devices run a variant of embedded Linux; typically, the distribution size is around 16MB today. Unfortunately, the Linux kernel, although very widely used, is far from immune to critical security vulnerabilities as well. In fact, in a presentation at Linux Security Summit 2016, Kees Cook highlighted two examples of critical security vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel: one being present in kernel versions from 2.6.1 all the way to 3.15, the other from 3.4 to 3.14. He also showed that a myriad of high severity vulnerabilities are continuously being found and addressed—more than 30 in his data set.

• APNIC-sponsored proposal could vastly improve DNS resilience against DDoS

today's howtos

• Deploy Pod, Replication Controller and Service in Kubernetes 1.7 on CentOS 7

• How to Install and Configure VNC Server in CentOS 7

• How To Auto Logout Inactive Users After A Period Of Time In Linux

• How To Install And Setup Utangle Firewall

• Two Easy Ways To Install Bing Desktop Wallpaper Changer On Linux

• CentOS 7 Server Hardening Guide

• Using Redir to Alter Network Traffic: Part 1

• How to Setup Automatic Security Updates on CentOS 7

• 3 Ways to Change a Users Default Shell in Linux

• Writing LaTeX well in Vim

What's New In Linux Lite 3.6

Linux Lite 3.6 is a good distribution, you just have to put your hands in the engine, but the assistance offered by Linux Lite helps us to set the system as well as possible. The XFCE desktop installed by default adds ease-of-use to this distribution, and the dashboard and main menu layout help the user from another operating system quickly find its brands

AMD Threadripper 1950X on Linux

• Gigabyte X399 AORUS Gaming 7 Works As A Linux-Friendly Threadripper Motherboard

  For the past few weeks that I have been testing the AMD Threadripper 1950X on Linux, I have been using the Gigabyte X399 AORUS Gaming 7 motherboard. Overall, it's been a pleasant experience and is running fine under Linux. Here's a quick summary.

• Phoronix Test Suite 7.4 Officially Released

  Phoronix Test Suite 7.4.0-Tynset has been officially released as the newest quarterly feature update to our cross-platform, open-source automated benchmarking software.