What Do You Know about Your Linux System?

A look at the process to get insight into supported system calls and features and to assess how secure a system is and its runtime activity.

Do you know that Linux kernel-supported system calls and features are architecture dependent? Do you know that Linux kernel supports several hardening configuration options to secure your system? 

Let’s take a look at the process to get insight into supported system calls and features and to assess how secure a system is and its runtime activity.

The kernel system state can be viewed as a combination of static and dynamic features and modules. Let’s first define what static and runtime system states are, and then explore how we can visualize the static and runtime system parts of the kernel.

Static System View comprises system calls, features, static and dynamic modules enabled in the kernel configuration.

Runtime System View comprises system calls, ioctls invoked and subsystems used during the runtime. A workload could load and unload modules and change the runtime system configuration to suit its needs by tuning system parameters.