syslog

Sys Admin has run several articles about Security Enhanced Linux, or SELinux, over the years. SELinux, as you probably know, is an extension to the standard Linux kernel developed to enforce strict access controls. It allows administrators to confine processes to the minimum amount of privilege required and was integrated into version 2.6 of the Linux kernel.

Lately, however, I've been hearing more about SELinux. There's a new book out about it. SELinux by Example by Frank Mayer, Karl Macmillan, and David Caplan (Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13-196369-4) is a hands-on guide to SELinux that covers its architecture, security object model, policy language, and more. You can read Emmett Dulaney's review of this book on UnixReview.com.

There are new products for it. Tresys Technology, a primary contributor to SELinux, has released a beta version of its Brickwall Enterprise Client for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. According to the company, this product makes managing SELinux easier by allowing administrators to configure fine-grained network access control for individual applications without having special knowledge of SELinux policies. You can learn about other products and download the beta version of Brickwall for testing from the Tresys Web site: http://www.tresys.com.

And there's an upcoming conference about SELinux. The third annual SELinux Symposium to be held in March of 2007 will consist of 4 days of conference tutorials and scheduled presentations followed by a developer summit. The call for papers for this conference closes shortly, but you can find topics, an events calendar, and registration information at the Web site:

SELinux Symposium 2007
March 12-16, Baltimore, Maryland
http://selinux-symposium.org/

For more information about SELinux, I refer you to the official Web site at: http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/.

We're now accepting proposals for security, backup and recovery, and clustering articles. Please send your proposals to me or to Sys Admin's managing editor, Rikki Kite at: rkite@cmp.com.

Sincerely yours,

Amber Ankerholz
Editor in Chief