Re: Physically securing FreeBSD workstations /boot/boot2

2009-08-08 Thread Nerius Landys
I seem to have found the answer to my own question.

The question was:
How do I prevent the boot2 bootstrap step from displaying a prompt
where the user can load a custom boot program and/or force booting
with options such as single user mode?

The answer that seems to work for me:
Add -n to /boot.config, I found this by ing the boot(8) man page.
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Physically securing FreeBSD workstations /boot/boot2

2009-08-06 Thread Nerius Landys
Hi.  I am attempting to secure some workstations in such a way that a
user would not be able gain full control of the computer (only user
access). However, they are able to see and touch the physical
workstation.  Things I'm trying to avoid, to list a couple of
examples:

1. Go to BIOS settings and configure it to boot from CD first, then
stick in a CD.  To prevent this I've put BIOS to only boot from hard
drive and I've password-locked the BIOS.
2. Go to loader menu and load (boot kernel) with some custom
parameters or something.  I've secured the loader menu by
password-protecting it (/boot/loader.conf has password) and
/boot/loader.conf is not world-readable.

And I'm sure there are other things, I just forgot them.

So my question is: Is this [securing of the workstation] worthwhile,
or should I just forget about this kind of security?  I want to make
it so that the only way to gain full control of the computer is by
physically opening up the box.

I noticed that boot2 brings up a menu like this one when I press space
during the initial boot blocks:

 FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
boot:

I guess it would be possible to stick in a floppy disk or something
and boot from there?  So my question is, is this a threat to my plan,
and if so, how can I disable this prompt?
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Re: Physically securing FreeBSD workstations /boot/boot2

2009-08-06 Thread Tim Judd
On 8/6/09, Nerius Landys nlan...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi.  I am attempting to secure some workstations in such a way that a
 user would not be able gain full control of the computer (only user
 access). However, they are able to see and touch the physical
 workstation.  Things I'm trying to avoid, to list a couple of
 examples:

 1. Go to BIOS settings and configure it to boot from CD first, then
 stick in a CD.  To prevent this I've put BIOS to only boot from hard
 drive and I've password-locked the BIOS.


You can't beat physical security.  If you have access to the hardware,
you can TAKE the box, saw it open, unmount the hard drive, slave it
into another system, mount it as a data drive and steal the info.
geli encryping the drive can secure the data on the disk, but they
have your disk.  it's as good as stolen data, even if they are unable
to decrypt it.


After sawing open the case, move the jumper to reset CMOS data, power
up, change boot order, and boot off CD.


After BIOS is back to normal, stick in a USB drive, boot off the HDD,
which is self-decrypting the geli encryption, copy the data off, and
scrub the HDD and install Windows on it.  The hacker's OS  (Just
Kidding, all.  Little humor is all I'm doing).



 2. Go to loader menu and load (boot kernel) with some custom
 parameters or something.  I've secured the loader menu by
 password-protecting it (/boot/loader.conf has password) and
 /boot/loader.conf is not world-readable.

If you can do the above, even booting from alternate medium, no other
means of security will apply.

 And I'm sure there are other things, I just forgot them.

 So my question is: Is this [securing of the workstation] worthwhile,
 or should I just forget about this kind of security?  I want to make
 it so that the only way to gain full control of the computer is by
 physically opening up the box.

 I noticed that boot2 brings up a menu like this one when I press space
 during the initial boot blocks:

 FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
 Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
 boot:

 I guess it would be possible to stick in a floppy disk or something
 and boot from there?  So my question is, is this a threat to my plan,
 and if so, how can I disable this prompt?



Only security in these days is to physically secure the box and leave
it off the network.  Flaws and security problems will always allow
unauthorized access.  But a computer that's not on the network is of
no use.  So it's a loose-loose situation.


Best effort is to know your people, and either trust them, or fire them.


--TJ
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Re: Physically securing FreeBSD workstations /boot/boot2

2009-08-06 Thread Roland Smith
On Thu, Aug 06, 2009 at 01:35:55PM -0600, Tim Judd wrote:
 On 8/6/09, Nerius Landys nlan...@gmail.com wrote:
  Hi.  I am attempting to secure some workstations in such a way that a
  user would not be able gain full control of the computer (only user
  access). However, they are able to see and touch the physical
  workstation.  Things I'm trying to avoid, to list a couple of
  examples:
 
  1. Go to BIOS settings and configure it to boot from CD first, then
  stick in a CD.  To prevent this I've put BIOS to only boot from hard
  drive and I've password-locked the BIOS.
 
 
 You can't beat physical security.  If you have access to the hardware,
 you can TAKE the box, saw it open, unmount the hard drive, slave it
 into another system, mount it as a data drive and steal the info.
 geli encryping the drive can secure the data on the disk, but they
 have your disk.  it's as good as stolen data, even if they are unable
 to decrypt it.
 
 
 After sawing open the case, move the jumper to reset CMOS data, power
 up, change boot order, and boot off CD.
 
 After BIOS is back to normal, stick in a USB drive, boot off the HDD,
 which is self-decrypting the geli encryption, copy the data off, and
 scrub the HDD and install Windows on it.  The hacker's OS  (Just
 Kidding, all.  Little humor is all I'm doing).

You can (and should) set geli up to require a passphrase, instead of or
next to a key-file. Using only a key-file is like sticking a tin-opener
to the tin.

  2. Go to loader menu and load (boot kernel) with some custom
  parameters or something.  I've secured the loader menu by
  password-protecting it (/boot/loader.conf has password) and
  /boot/loader.conf is not world-readable.
 
 If you can do the above, even booting from alternate medium, no other
 means of security will apply.
 
  And I'm sure there are other things, I just forgot them.
 
  So my question is: Is this [securing of the workstation] worthwhile,
  or should I just forget about this kind of security?  I want to make
  it so that the only way to gain full control of the computer is by
  physically opening up the box.
 
  I noticed that boot2 brings up a menu like this one when I press space
  during the initial boot blocks:
 
  FreeBSD/i386 BOOT
  Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
  boot:
 
  I guess it would be possible to stick in a floppy disk or something
  and boot from there?  So my question is, is this a threat to my plan,
  and if so, how can I disable this prompt?

Disconnect or remove the floppy. Adn disable booting from USB devices.

Roland
-- 
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Re: Physically securing FreeBSD workstations /boot/boot2

2009-08-06 Thread Erik Norgaard

Nerius Landys wrote:

Hi.  I am attempting to secure some workstations in such a way that a
user would not be able gain full control of the computer (only user
access). However, they are able to see and touch the physical
workstation.


I assume that users cannot tingle with the hardware, take it apart, add 
a different disk etc. and that only authorized users can physically 
access the computer. That's what physical security is about.


I understand you may have some authorized user who will nevertheless try 
to gain elevated privileges. That's really logical security, local that 
is as opposed to remote/network security.



2. Go to loader menu and load (boot kernel) with some custom
parameters or something.  I've secured the loader menu by
password-protecting it (/boot/loader.conf has password) and
/boot/loader.conf is not world-readable.

And I'm sure there are other things, I just forgot them.


You can configure the loader such as not to present any loader menu but 
boot right away. If you need the option of booting into single user 
mode, then you can password protect single user mode.



So my question is: Is this [securing of the workstation] worthwhile,
or should I just forget about this kind of security?  I want to make
it so that the only way to gain full control of the computer is by
physically opening up the box.


You can always make it more difficult, which should give you less to 
worry about. You have to weigh how much work it takes against how much 
you really have to worry about, then decide when it's enough.


How about running diskless? How about centralized authentication with 
NIS or LDAP?


Another option is to disable root locally, that is the account still 
exist but with * in the password field.. If each workstation runs sshd 
you can use key based authentication to gain privileged access remotely 
while local access is disabled.



I noticed that boot2 brings up a menu like this one when I press space
during the initial boot blocks:


FreeBSD/i386 BOOT

Default: 0:ad(0,a)/boot/loader
boot:

I guess it would be possible to stick in a floppy disk or something
and boot from there?  So my question is, is this a threat to my plan,
and if so, how can I disable this prompt?


you've still got floppies? wow. How about trying to boot a floppy with 
your current configuration? I'm not sure that it will work at that stage 
if it has been disabled in the bios. It might be possible to load the 
kernel from the harddisk then tell the kernel to mount the floppy as 
root device. You could solve that by compiling a kernel without floppy 
support and delete the kernel module.


You need to learn how to script the loader, read the source code, I 
don't recall finding much documentation on that last time I looked.


Others suggest you encrypt the harddrive, I don't find it very useful in 
 your case, I assume your users need to access the systems and use them 
for the intended purposes and you just want to protect against someone 
trying to escalate his privileges.


If you encrypt partitions with geli then you'll have to enter the 
password every time somebody reboots. However, you should consider 
encrypted swap and temporary partition, together with forced reboot on 
logout you avoid session data getting in the hands of the next user.


BR, Erik
--
Erik Nørgaard
Ph: +34.666334818/+34.915211157  http://www.locolomo.org
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securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread alexandre . delay
hi guys

I would like to secure my FreeBSD server.
I don't want anyone to be able to access to the disk using a bootable CD (or by
setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other primary hdd).

I just don't want anyone to be able to hack this box nor any password.

Do you have a solution?

Cheers

Alex

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Re: securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread Niclas Zeising

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

hi guys

I would like to secure my FreeBSD server.
I don't want anyone to be able to access to the disk using a bootable CD (or by
setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other primary hdd).

I just don't want anyone to be able to hack this box nor any password.

Do you have a solution?

Cheers

Alex


You can start by looking in the handbook, chapter 14, about security. 
Then you also have security(7) manual page to look at for information 
about how to secure a FreeBSD server.


Regards!
//Niclas
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Re: securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread Greg Barniskis

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

hi guys

I would like to secure my FreeBSD server.
I don't want anyone to be able to access to the disk using a bootable CD (or by
setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other primary hdd).

I just don't want anyone to be able to hack this box nor any password.

Do you have a solution?


Securing a platform against a determined attacker who can put their 
hands on the physical hardware is a significant challenge for any 
OS. To protect against the type of attack you describe, encrypting 
all disk content (or at least the sensitive parts) is probably the 
only effective thing you can do, short of sealing the whole thing 
inside some other physically protected environment.


http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks-encrypting.html

Short of that, you could use a case with a trigger mechanism that 
informs the BIOS that the case has been opened, so that a warning is 
emitted at boot time re: physical security has been violated. Of 
course, that doesn't prevent intrusion, it just tells you that it 
occurred (and then, only if the intruder doesn't also violate your 
BIOS security and simply reset the case has been opened bits).


--
Greg Barniskis, Computer Systems Integrator
South Central Library System (SCLS)
Library Interchange Network (LINK)
gregb at scls.lib.wi.us, (608) 266-6348
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Re: securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread perikillo
On 7/13/05, Greg Barniskis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  hi guys
 
  I would like to secure my FreeBSD server.
  I don't want anyone to be able to access to the disk using a bootable CD 
  (or by
  setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other primary hdd).
 
  I just don't want anyone to be able to hack this box nor any password.
 
  Do you have a solution?
 
 Securing a platform against a determined attacker who can put their
 hands on the physical hardware is a significant challenge for any
 OS. To protect against the type of attack you describe, encrypting
 all disk content (or at least the sensitive parts) is probably the
 only effective thing you can do, short of sealing the whole thing
 inside some other physically protected environment.
 
 http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/disks-encrypting.html
 
 Short of that, you could use a case with a trigger mechanism that
 informs the BIOS that the case has been opened, so that a warning is
 emitted at boot time re: physical security has been violated. Of
 course, that doesn't prevent intrusion, it just tells you that it
 occurred (and then, only if the intruder doesn't also violate your
 BIOS security and simply reset the case has been opened bits).
 
 --
 Greg Barniskis, Computer Systems Integrator
 South Central Library System (SCLS)
 Library Interchange Network (LINK)
 gregb at scls.lib.wi.us, (608) 266-6348
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  Plus, use google: +hardening freebsd.
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Re: securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread Roland Smith
On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 01:05:43PM +0200, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I would like to secure my FreeBSD server.

 I don't want anyone to be able to access to the disk using a bootable
 CD (or by setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other
 primary hdd).

Put the machine in a locked cabinet (which should have enough
ventilation holes). The cabinet should be bolted to the floor or the
wall. How sturdy the cabinet needs to be depends on what kind of attack
it should withstand, and for how long...

 I just don't want anyone to be able to hack this box nor any password.

Disable all unneeded services and accounts. Allow root login from the
console only. If you have physical access, disallow remote login
entirely. Use long random passwords. Keep on top of security
updates. Install intrusion detection systems.

Roland
-- 
R.F.Smith (http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/) Please send e-mail as plain text.
public key: http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/pubkey.txt


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Re: securing FreeBSD

2005-07-13 Thread Olivier Nicole
 or by setting the actual hdd to secondary and plug an other primary
 hdd

Once the hardware is compromised, it is really tricky to keep secure.

If you cannot protect your hardware (secure room) then your hard disk
has to auto protect itself: encrypt the data, and have no saved
password on the disk itself (means you will have to enter a passphrase
each time your disk is mounted).

I'd have 2 physical disks, one for the system and one for the
data. The system disk is cleartext, the data is encrypted. And I'd
have the private key on a removable device (like USB for exeample).

Be sure that your system does not dump any memory image in case of
panic.

Another solution (expensive and only valid for a limited amount of
data) have a RAM disk (and secure your electric power supply). An
intruder would have to turn off the power to grab the memory. Doing so
he would delete the data... Depends what is your level of paranoia :)

Olivier
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suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Peter Rosa
Hello everybody,

I'm a newbie in this list, so I don't know if it's the appropriate place
for my question. Anyway, I'd be happy to find out the solution.

Please, has anyone simple answer for:

I'm looking for an exact list of files, which:
1. MUST have...
2. HAVE FROM BSD INSTALLATION...
3. DO NOT NEED...
4. NEVER MAY...
...the suid-bit set.

Of course, it's no problem to find-out which files ALREADY HAS
suid-bit set. But what files REALLY MUST have it ?
I know generalities, as e.g. shell should never have suid bit set,
but what if someone has copied any shell to some other location
and have set the suid bit ? It's security hole, isn't it ?
And what if I have more such files on my machine ?
It is not about my machine has been compromited, it is only WHAT IF...



Second question is: Has anybody an exact wizard, how to secure
the FreeBSD machine. Imagine the situation, the only person who 
can do anything on that machine is me, and nobody other. I have 
set very restrictive firewalling, I have removed ALL tty's except 
two local tty's (I need to work on that machine), but there are 
still open port 25 and 53 (must be forever), so someone very 
tricky can compromite my machine. 

I'm a little bit paranoic, don't I :-)))

Cheers,

Peter Rosa

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Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Peter Rosa
Sorry for disturbing you. This was for security mailing list and I sent it
here by mistake

Cheers,

Peter Rosa


- Original Message -
From: Peter Rosa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: FreeBSD Questions [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 7:11 PM
Subject: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD


 Hello everybody,

 I'm a newbie in this list, so I don't know if it's the appropriate place
 for my question. Anyway, I'd be happy to find out the solution.

 Please, has anyone simple answer for:

 I'm looking for an exact list of files, which:
 1. MUST have...
 2. HAVE FROM BSD INSTALLATION...
 3. DO NOT NEED...
 4. NEVER MAY...
 ...the suid-bit set.

 Of course, it's no problem to find-out which files ALREADY HAS
 suid-bit set. But what files REALLY MUST have it ?
 I know generalities, as e.g. shell should never have suid bit set,
 but what if someone has copied any shell to some other location
 and have set the suid bit ? It's security hole, isn't it ?
 And what if I have more such files on my machine ?
 It is not about my machine has been compromited, it is only WHAT IF...

 

 Second question is: Has anybody an exact wizard, how to secure
 the FreeBSD machine. Imagine the situation, the only person who
 can do anything on that machine is me, and nobody other. I have
 set very restrictive firewalling, I have removed ALL tty's except
 two local tty's (I need to work on that machine), but there are
 still open port 25 and 53 (must be forever), so someone very
 tricky can compromite my machine.

 I'm a little bit paranoic, don't I :-)))

 Cheers,

 Peter Rosa

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Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Matthew Graybosch

 Second question is: Has anybody an exact wizard, how to secure
 the FreeBSD machine. Imagine the situation, the only person who
 can do anything on that machine is me, and nobody other. I have
 set very restrictive firewalling, I have removed ALL tty's except
 two local tty's (I need to work on that machine), but there are
 still open port 25 and 53 (must be forever), so someone very
 tricky can compromite my machine.

 I'm a little bit paranoic, don't I :-)))

Uhm, yes, you *are* just a wee bit paranoid. But it helps to be 
paranoid if you're root on somebody else's machine. Great power and 
great responsibility, right?

But if you're concerned with security uber alles, I'm surprised you 
didn't look into OpenBSD first. According to their site 
(openbsd.org), they've had only one remote hole in the default 
install, in more than 7 years!

FreeBSD certainly can be secured, but it appears that the developers 
put performance and reliability first, and then security. Theo de 
Raadt puts security first.

-- 
Matthew Graybosch
http://www.starbreaker.net
I am become root, shatterer of kernels.

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Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Peter Rosa
Hello Matthew,

thank you very much. It's excatly you say. FreeBSD is my option because of
historical reasons. Someone has installed it for me two years ago, and now
I love it (he installed it after two hacks and two reinstallations of RedHat
Linux [I don't want to say, RHL is not good, but FBSD is better :-) {now I
see the storm, like with I'm christian.. mail to this list :-))) } ] ).

Wow, such a short sentence I just produced :-)

Peter Rosa


- Original Message -
From: Matthew Graybosch [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Peter Rosa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 7:22 PM
Subject: Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD



  Second question is: Has anybody an exact wizard, how to secure
  the FreeBSD machine. Imagine the situation, the only person who
  can do anything on that machine is me, and nobody other. I have
  set very restrictive firewalling, I have removed ALL tty's except
  two local tty's (I need to work on that machine), but there are
  still open port 25 and 53 (must be forever), so someone very
  tricky can compromite my machine.
 
  I'm a little bit paranoic, don't I :-)))

 Uhm, yes, you *are* just a wee bit paranoid. But it helps to be
 paranoid if you're root on somebody else's machine. Great power and
 great responsibility, right?

 But if you're concerned with security uber alles, I'm surprised you
 didn't look into OpenBSD first. According to their site
 (openbsd.org), they've had only one remote hole in the default
 install, in more than 7 years!

 FreeBSD certainly can be secured, but it appears that the developers
 put performance and reliability first, and then security. Theo de
 Raadt puts security first.

 --
 Matthew Graybosch
 http://www.starbreaker.net
 I am become root, shatterer of kernels.

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Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Daniel Harris
Matthew Graybosch wrote:
But if you're concerned with security uber alles, I'm surprised you 
didn't look into OpenBSD first. According to their site 
(openbsd.org), they've had only one remote hole in the default 
install, in more than 7 years!
Caveat: the default install has almost nothing in it.  This is fine if 
you plan to do almost nothing, but if you install any software, you'll 
be about as well off as if you were installing that software anywhere else.

FreeBSD certainly can be secured, but it appears that the developers 
put performance and reliability first, and then security. Theo de 
Raadt puts security first.
The BSDs borrow freely from each other.  OpenBSD perhaps is a little 
more aggressive about cryptography in the base system, but the results 
of OpenBSD audits are often used by Net and Free.  Please look up from 
your BSD Executive Summary article :-)

To claim that FreeBSD puts reliability ahead of security doesn't make 
sense; a compromised system is usually not reliable.  Security (and more 
broadly, stability/reliability) are given a little more consideration 
than performance, if you want to order them.  A competent administrator 
can secure any system.  An incompetent administrator should become 
competent (on machines unreachable from the internet) before running 
anything important in publically-reachable space.

To the original poster: I take it you are running DNS and SMTP on the 
FreeBSD machine?  Try to avoid BIND 8; use BIND 9 or djbdns for your 
DNS.  Qmail and Postfix have better security records than Sendmail for 
SMTP; I prefer Postfix for ease of configuration.  If you're running a 
BIND version, run it as user bind in a chroot (at least).  I'd worry 
more about your public services than about SUID bits: if there is no 
shell access, nobody will be able to take advantage of SUID without 
first finding a hole allowing shell access.

Subscribe to freebsd-security-notifications for, well, security 
notifications.  Keep your ears open for bugs in your MTA or DNS server. 
 With a little vigilance you have little to fear.  Good luck,

--
Daniel Harris
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Re: suid bit files and securing FreeBSD

2003-07-26 Thread Chuck Swiger
Peter Rosa wrote:
[ ... ]
I'm looking for an exact list of files, which:
1. MUST have...
2. HAVE FROM BSD INSTALLATION...
3. DO NOT NEED...
4. NEVER MAY...
...the suid-bit set.
Of course, it's no problem to find-out which files ALREADY HAS
suid-bit set. But what files REALLY MUST have it ?
The files which ship setuid REALLY MUST have the setuid-bit for the underlying 
programs to work normally for a non-root user.  If you don't care about non-root 
users having a normal environment, you can probably remove the setuid-bit from 
every program.

[ Things like 'su' won't function, nor will 'ping', any utility like ps, 
netstat, etc which grovel in kernel data structures, etc. ]

I know generalities, as e.g. shell should never have suid bit set,
but what if someone has copied any shell to some other location
and have set the suid bit ? It's security hole, isn't it ?
Yes.

And what if I have more such files on my machine ?
You would have more security holes.

It is not about my machine has been compromited, it is only WHAT IF...



Second question is: Has anybody an exact wizard, how to secure
the FreeBSD machine. Imagine the situation, the only person who 
can do anything on that machine is me, and nobody other. I have 
set very restrictive firewalling, I have removed ALL tty's except 
two local tty's (I need to work on that machine), but there are 
still open port 25 and 53 (must be forever), so someone very 
tricky can compromite my machine. 
Disconnect the machine from the network and lock it in a vault: that's a secure 
system.  If you can't do that, say because you need to run network services on 
this system, then you need to stay up-to-date with regard to those services, and 
upgrade or apply patches as appropriate, ie, if a security hole is announced.

Contorting the system in the fashion you describe gives little security benefit.

--
-Chuck
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