Perform basic system checks with checksecurity

Health Check

© Lead Image © Siarhei Lenets, 123RF.com

© Lead Image © Siarhei Lenets, 123RF.com

Article from Issue 244/2021
Author(s):

Linux offers users a wide range of options for system configuration. With the help of the checksecurity tool collection, you can automatically monitor basic system settings.

Linux is considered a very secure operating system for computers of all kinds. Realistically, however, even Linux is not immune to vulnerabilities and malware, which is why you can find a large number of tools in the package sources of Linux derivatives to help scan for vulnerabilities. However, these tools tend to focus on specific weaknesses and narrowly defined attack scenarios by only analyzing a computer system for individual potential security problems.

With the checksecurity tool collection, on the other hand, you can automatically check Ubuntu and Debian systems [1] and their derivatives for multiple potential basic security flaws or anomalies.

Concept

Checksecurity consists of a number of plugins, each of which you then customize in a configuration file. The corresponding files are in text format, so a simple editor is all it takes to set up the service. When checksecurity is called, the program works through the activated plugins one by one and outputs the results of the tests in a terminal window.

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