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[{"id":483,"title":"Self-taught through trial and error","votes":545,"type":"x","order":1,"pct":78.42,"resources":[]},{"id":484,"title":"Formal training or courses","votes":30,"type":"x","order":2,"pct":4.32,"resources":[]},{"id":485,"title":"A job that required it","votes":34,"type":"x","order":3,"pct":4.89,"resources":[]},{"id":486,"title":"Other","votes":86,"type":"x","order":4,"pct":12.37,"resources":[]}] ["#ff5b00","#4ac0f2","#b80028","#eef66c","#60bb22","#b96a9a","#62c2cc"] ["rgba(255,91,0,0.7)","rgba(74,192,242,0.7)","rgba(184,0,40,0.7)","rgba(238,246,108,0.7)","rgba(96,187,34,0.7)","rgba(185,106,154,0.7)","rgba(98,194,204,0.7)"] 350
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215

Linux Mint 22 Release: Key Security Features and Usability Upgrades

Linux Mint has has long been recognized as a versatile and user-friendly distribution and has earned great popularity among administrators and security practitioners. Due to its stability, ease of use, and robust support system, the distro has quickly established itself in professional environments where reliability and performance are crucial. . With the release of Linux Mint 22 , new updates and enhancements tailored towards security professionals should further solidify this reputation among them. In this article, I'll walk you through the major changes introduced in Linux Mint 22, their significance in the realm of security, and how you can upgrade your systems to reap these benefits. Why Is Linux Mint So Popular Among Admins? Linux Mint has long been recognized for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive out-of-the-box experience, significantly reducing initial setup time—an essential factor for busy administrators. Based on Ubuntu, its access to its extensive software repository and strong community are invaluable assets. Additionally, it boasts regular updates and long-term support versions (LTS versions) to provide regular security patches and system upgrades. Security professionals often cite Linux Mint for its robust nature, integration with security tools and solutions, user permission management capabilities, and reputation for efficiently managing networking and firewall configurations, which is why its release has generated so much excitement among practitioners. Given this background, its release has generated immense anticipation. Noteworthy Changes and Features in Linux Mint 22 Linux Mint 22 brings with it several changes that enhance both its usability and security, such as: Long-Term Support and Kernel Updates: Linux Mint 22 is an LTS release that will receive updates until 2029. Based on Ubuntu 24.04 and running the Linux kernel version 6.8, it is compatible with modern hardware, applications, and packages essential to maintaining systemefficiency and security. Kernel updates will occur every six months to protect the system against changing threats. Increased Security Features: One of the critical security enhancements in Linux Mint 22 is the default disabling of guest sessions, which pose an inherent security risk due to temporary user accounts without password protection that enable unauthorized access. By disabling them by default, this risk has been substantially mitigated. Furthermore, the Online Accounts Synchronization feature was improved, fixing previous vulnerabilities while providing more secure management of online credentials. PipeWire Implementation for Audio: Switching to PipeWire for audio handling is another notable change. It offers greater security and performance advantages than the PulseAudio system. PipeWire allows more granular control over audio device permissions and is better equipped to handle professional audio applications, making it suitable for multimedia tasks that rely on secure audio streams. User Interface and Theming Improvements: Switching the default desktop environment's themes from GTK3 to GTK4 enables GPU acceleration for improved system resource use and graphical performance. However, several GNOME apps were downgraded to GTK3 for compatibility reasons. Disk Space Optimization: Linux Mint 22 includes enhanced disk space utilization by automatically uninstalling language packs that no longer require it, freeing up more space for user applications and data. This ensures the system remains lean while creating additional space for individual applications and data. What are the Security Implications of This Release for Admins? Linux Mint 22's security upgrades have far-reaching ramifications for system administrators. They offer major enhancements that should give system managers peace of mind about network security threats: Kernel Security: Linux Mint 22 users who update their kernel every six months will benefit from the most up-to-date security patches andhardware compatibility improvements, thus decreasing the window of vulnerability for exploits targeting kernel vulnerabilities. Online Account Synchronization: With its enhanced Online Accounts feature, Linux Mint 22 strengthens security when integrating third-party services by addressing past vulnerabilities that compromised credential management and handling. Secured Default Settings: By disabling guest sessions by default, Linux Mint 22 reduces the risk of unauthorized access and provides an initial foundation for administrators to build additional protections. How Can I Upgrade to Linux Mint 22? Administrators currently running Linux Mint 21.3 can easily upgrade to Linux Mint 22 by following these steps: Ensure All Important Data Is Backed Up: Before embarking on significant upgrades, ensure all critical data has been securely backed up and stored safely. Update Manager: Launch the Update Manager to verify your current system is up-to-date. Follow Upgrade Instructions: Once available, upgrade instructions for Linux Mint 22 will be published on the Linux Mint Blog and should be followed step-by-step. Utilize the Update Manager: Existing Linux Mint 22 beta users can use the Update Manager to transition to its stable release. Launch it, refresh its package list, and apply any applicable updates. Post-Upgrade Test: After upgrading, perform a thorough post-upgrade check to ensure all applications and services operate as they should. Review system logs for possible errors and ensure all security settings remain intact. Our Final Thoughts on the Significance of This Release Linux Mint 22 is an outstanding choice for administrators and security practitioners. Boasting LTS support, enhanced security features, and an updated kernel, Linux Mint provides solutions to some of the significant concerns IT professionals face today. Furthermore, its thoughtful improvements in usability and performance cement its position as an optimal distribution for creatinga stable, secure, and efficient operating environment. Keep an eye out on the official Linux Mint blog for up-to-date and detailed upgrade instructions. I strongly encourage you to upgrade to Linux Mint 22 and take advantage of the robustness and security it brings to your systems. . The launch of Ubuntu 22.04 has introduced advanced features and improvements focused on usability, providing essential tools for developers.. Linux Mint 22, admin security, usability enhancements, system updates. . Brittany Day

Calendar 2 Jul 26, 2024 User Avatar Brittany Day Desktop Security
79

Intel's New Firmware Update Driver For Linux Improves Server Management

Intel is bringing a feature upgrade to Linux that will make Windows users jealous. "The upcoming “pfr_update” driver is set to be introduced in Linux kerne l 5.17. Sources say it appears to be designed for system firmware updates in cases of critical bugs or security issues , allowing server administrators to patch their hardware without downtime." . Ever since BIOS updates became possible, the process required rebooting the PC. Even when motherboard manufacturers moved completely to UEFI , this remained the case. Intel is now changing that, thanks to a new part of the ACPI specification called Platform Firmware Runtime Update and Telemetry (PFRUT). This allows for firmware updates to a PC’s BIOS or UEFI without forcing a reboot. Windows users, though, will be disappointed. The feature is Linux-only, at least for now. Intel’s been working on PFRUT for some time, previously under the moniker “Seamless Update.” The idea is to reduce downtime, especially for servers that should ideally remain available 100 percent of the time. Servers can undergo BIOS/UEFI updates “on the fly,” keeping critical workloads fully operational the whole time. The upcoming “pfr_update” driver is set to be introduced in Linux kerne l 5.17. Sources say it appears to be designed for system firmware updates in cases of critical bugs or security issues , allowing server administrators to patch their hardware without downtime. . Intel is set to launch a significant Linux enhancement aimed at system firmware updates, minimizing downtime for server administrators.. Intel Upgrade, Linux Feature, System Firmware, Server Patching, ACPI Specification. . LinuxSecurity.com Team

Calendar 2 Jan 03, 2022 User Avatar LinuxSecurity.com Team Security Projects
78

Google Chrome 75: New Internal APIs and Features for Linux

Google has released today version 75 of its Chrome browser, available for Android, Chrome OS, Linux, Mac, and Windows. . The vast majority of the new features and changes in Chrome 75 are centered around adding new internal APIs and updating existing features. But while Chrome 75 is lacking in terms of user-facing features compared to previous versions, today's release isn't a complete wasteland. The link for this article located at ZDNet is no longer available. . Discover the latest enhancements and improvements in Google Chrome 75, such as the novel functionalities unveiled, revisions to internal APIs, and modifications to support for Linux platforms.. Google Chrome Update, Chrome 75 Features, Linux Browser Support, API Enhancements, Software Releases. . LinuxSecurity.com Team

Calendar 2 Jun 05, 2019 User Avatar LinuxSecurity.com Team Vendors/Products
77

Linux 2.4.21-ow1 Security Advisory: Enhancements and Fixes

This is a cumulative announcement for several updates which have occurred in the last three months. I'll start with the latest. Linux 2.4.21-ow1 is out and available for download at the usual location. . .. This is a cumulative announcement for several updates which have occurred in the last three months. I'll start with the latest. Linux 2.4.21-ow1 is out and available for download at the usual location Hi, This is a cumulative announcement for several updates which have occurred in the last three months. I'll start with the latest. Linux 2.4.21-ow1 is out and available for download at the usual location: https://www.openwall.com//linux/ Linux 2.4.21 (and thus 2.4.21-ow1) adds numerous security fixes, including to the kmod/ptrace race previously fixed in 2.2.25 and many 2.4.x-specific vulnerabilities (ioperm(2) allowing unauthorized direct access to certain I/O ports, O_DIRECT information leaks, excessive CPU consumption with networking, and more). Linux 2.4.21-ow1, compared to previous versions of the patch for Linux 2.4.x, corrects the RLIMIT_NPROC enforcement to not apply to privileged processes and to work also for 32-bit syscall emulation on sparc64, ppc64, mips64, s390x, and 64-bit parisc, thanks to the report from Brad Spengler. It also has a harmless user-triggerable Oops (kernel mode fault) in the GPF handler on x86/SMP fixed, thanks to the PaX team. Owl-current now fully supports Linux 2.4.x as well as 2.2.x, although only 2.2.x is included and it's still the preferred choice. This means that not only will Owl run with a 2.4.x kernel (Owl 1.0 release supported that already), but its userland may be fully rebuilt from source ("make buildworld") with Linux 2.4.x kernel headers. Another recent release is msulogin, a single user mode login program which adds support for having multiple root accounts on a system. It's a part of Owl-current but is also made available separately: /msulogin/ More importantly, Owl-current now defaults to tcb, our alternative and betterpassword shadowing scheme. This was already supported in Owl 1.0, but not made the default until recently. Updating existing Owl installs to Owl-current or the upcoming release results in automatic conversion from /etc/shadow to tcb. It is still possible to maintain an Owl system with /etc/shadow should you require this level of backwards compatibility, -- automatic conversion to tcb won't be performed on updates if a system has been explicitly unconverted from tcb. Just to remind, our tcb suite is also available separately from Owl primarily for re-use by other distributions: https://www.openwall.com//tcb/ Other recent changes to Owl-current include the addition of CVS and Nmap packages (both with our modifications), replacing console-tools with kbd, updates to Mutt 1.4.1i, mktemp 1.5, OpenSSH 3.6.1p2, OpenSSL 0.9.6j, util-linux 2.11z, xinetd 2.3.11, SysVinit 2.85, GnuPG 1.2.2, lftp 2.6.6, and stmpclean 0.3. We've imported many improvements from ALT Linux, including libpam_userpass, much better command line parsing in su(1), and various fixes and improvements to start-stop-daemon and wall(1). pam_tcb now implements proper fake salt creation for non-existent or password-less accounts to reduce timing leaks, and our login services know to make use of that functionality. For a more complete and verbose list of Owl-current changes, please refer to: /Owl/CHANGES-current.shtml -- Alexander Peslyak GPG key ID: B35D3598 fp: 6429 0D7E F130 C13E C929 6447 73C3 A290 B35D 3598 https://www.openwall.com/ - bringing security into open computing environments . Latest enhancements feature Linux 2.4.21-ow2, incorporating vital security patches that bolster both performance and overall system reliability.. Linux Kernel Updates, Owl Current Features, Msulogin Security Fixes. . LinuxSecurity.com Team

Calendar 2 Jun 17, 2003 User Avatar LinuxSecurity.com Team Server Security
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What got you started with Linux?

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[{"id":483,"title":"Self-taught through trial and error","votes":545,"type":"x","order":1,"pct":78.42,"resources":[]},{"id":484,"title":"Formal training or courses","votes":30,"type":"x","order":2,"pct":4.32,"resources":[]},{"id":485,"title":"A job that required it","votes":34,"type":"x","order":3,"pct":4.89,"resources":[]},{"id":486,"title":"Other","votes":86,"type":"x","order":4,"pct":12.37,"resources":[]}] ["#ff5b00","#4ac0f2","#b80028","#eef66c","#60bb22","#b96a9a","#62c2cc"] ["rgba(255,91,0,0.7)","rgba(74,192,242,0.7)","rgba(184,0,40,0.7)","rgba(238,246,108,0.7)","rgba(96,187,34,0.7)","rgba(185,106,154,0.7)","rgba(98,194,204,0.7)"] 350
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