Preventing Web Attacks with Apache

• Cover Type: Paperback with 624 pages
• Published by: Addison-Wesley Professional February 6, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0321321286
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0321321282
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 1.9 pounds

“Ryan Barnett has raised the bar in terms of running Apache securely. If you run Apache, stop right now and leaf through this book; you need this information.”

–Stephen Northcutt, The SANS Institute

The only end-to-end guide to securing Apache Web servers and Web applications

Apache can be hacked. As companies have improved perimeter security, hackers have increasingly focused on attacking Apache Web servers and Web applications. Firewalls and SSL won’t protect you: you must systematically harden your Web application environment. Preventing Web Attacks with Apache brings together all the information you’ll need to do that: step-by-step guidance, hands-on examples, and tested configuration files.

Building on his groundbreaking SANS presentations on Apache security, Ryan C. Barnett reveals why your Web servers represent such a compelling target, how significant exploits are performed, and how they can be defended against. Exploits discussed include: buffer overflows, denial of service, attacks on vulnerable scripts and programs, credential sniffing and spoofing, client parameter manipulation, brute force attacks, web defacements, and more.

Barnett introduces the Center for Internet Security Apache Benchmarks, a set of best-practice Apache security configuration actions and settings he helped to create. He addresses issues related to IT processes and your underlying OS; Apache downloading, installation, and configuration; application hardening; monitoring, and more. He also presents a chapter-length case study using actual Web attack logs and data captured “in the wild.”

For every sysadmin, Web professional, and security specialist responsible for Apache or Web application security.

With this book, you will learn to

• Address the OS-related flaws most likely to compromise Web server security
• Perform security-related tasks needed to safely download, configure, and install Apache
• Lock down your Apache httpd.conf file and install essential Apache security modules
• Test security with the CIS Apache Benchmark Scoring Tool
• Use the WASC Web Security Threat Classification to identify and mitigate application threats
• Test Apache mitigation settings against the Buggy Bank Web application
• Analyze an Open Web Proxy Honeypot to gather crucial intelligence about attackers
• Master advanced techniques for detecting and preventing intrusions

Ryan C. Barnett is a chief security officer for EDS. He currently leads both Operations Security and Incident Response Teams for a government bureau in Washington, DC. In addition to his nine-to-five job, Ryan is also a faculty member for the SANS Institute, where his duties include instructor/courseware developer for Apache Security, Top twenty Vulnerabilities team member, and local mentor for the SANS Track 4, “Hacker Techniques, Exploits, and Incident Handling,” course. He holds six SANS Global Information Assurance Certifications (GIAC): Intrusion Analyst (GCIA), Systems and Network Auditor (GSNA), Forensic Analyst (GCFA), Incident Handler (GCIH), Unix Security Administrator (GCUX), and Security Essentials (GSEC). In addition to the SANS Institute, he is also the team lead for the Center for Internet Security Apache Benchmark Project and a member of the Web Application Security Consortium.

Reader Reviews
I should start with a disclaimer, I know Ryan Barnett and have followed his work through the years. That said, my responsibility as a reviewer is to help you as the reader decide whether to purchase this book, take the time to leaf through the book with the sample pages or Amazon, or to skip this book. I take that responsibility seriously. If you have nothing to do with Web servers, you can safely skip this book. If you have operations, security or audit responsibilities for an organization that runs Apache and you do not read this book at least twice you are negligent. Please allow me to explain why I say that. The book introduces the Center for Internet Security benchmark early on. This group, www.cisecurity.org, does two things very well, they determine to appropriate security configuration for a number of operating systems, devices, and programs and they produce tools to check the configuration. Wouldn't it make sense to know if your web server is configured properly, on average there are about 1,000 web defacements per day. There are security books that about things and that is OK, but the best security books tell you how to do things. Ryan takes you through the download, installation and configuration of Apache. The "secret sauce" in the book starts in Chapter 5, where you are introduced to what is possible with the security modules for Apache. If you are an auditor, grab your highlighter, mark the tools and configurations and go pay the web admins a visit! Chapter 8 gives you a scenario to bring everything together. For the average reader, this is about as far as you are going to go. Beyond Chapter 8, you are in advanced material, where Ryan is sharing the results of years of his research. This is for the security person looking for a bit of an edge to help protect their organization, or to do additional research. This is not a book for everyone, but it is a book for everyone running Apache!