Resetting the tripwire
This commit is contained in:
Bob Mottram
parent
e99b49aa8e
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f851db81e0
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@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
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| [[file:index.html][Home]] |
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| [[Why not supply a disk image download?]] |
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| [[Can I add more users to the system?]] |
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| [[How do I reset the tripwire?]] |
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| [[Is metadata protected?]] |
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| [[Why isn't dynamic DNS working?]] |
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| [[How do I get a domain name?]] |
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@ -27,6 +28,16 @@
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Shipping a Freedombone disk image ready to install on a flash disk would be easy, but disk images are relatively opaque. It would be quite easy to hide something nasty within a disk image and the user might never know. To guard against that possibility installing via the *freedombone* command is a lot more transparent, since it's really just a bash script. You can check the script code to see exactly what it's doing, and the packages are all downloaded from standard Debian repos (you can even choose which one you trust) or git repos. Doing it this way the system is fully auditable, whereas when shipping a disk image it's harder to be confident that no nefarious extras have been added.
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* Can I add more users to the system?
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Like any other GNU/Linux system you can add more users. It's easy to add users to Owncloud, XMPP or RedMatrix. However, Freedombone is designed primarily to be a single user system (i.e. a personal server) and if there are multiple users then the number of them is expected to be small - perhaps five or less. Freedombone is not intended to be "/web scale/" in terms of supporting tens or hundreds of users on a single server. Instead, each server can host a small number of users and then the servers federate together as a network of peers.
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* How do I reset the tripwire?
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You will get a daily email which indicates which files on the system have changed recently. Once per week the system will install any updates and those may also show up on the list, along with any changes due to installed packages or changed settings. Watch out for any files which change unexpectedly, which could indicate an intruder. To reset the tripwire:
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#+BEGIN_SRC bash
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ssh username@mydomain -p 2222
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su
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reset-tripwire
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#+END_SRC
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You will need to press enter a couple of times. Doing this typically once per week may be a chore, and it's not completely foolproof, but it at least provides some degree of confidence that there have been no intrusions.
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* Is metadata protected?
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Even when using Freedombone metadata analysis by third parties is still possible. They might have a much harder time knowing what the content is, but they can potentially construct extensive dossiers based upon who communicated with your server when. Metadata leakage is a general problem with most current web systems and it is hoped that more secure technology will become available in future. But for now if metadata protection is your main concern using Freedombone won't help.
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* Why isn't dynamic DNS working?
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@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<title></title>
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<!-- 2015-03-07 Sat 21:53 -->
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<!-- 2015-03-10 Tue 21:03 -->
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
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<meta name="generator" content="Org-mode" />
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<meta name="author" content="Bob Mottram" />
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@ -178,35 +178,39 @@ for the JavaScript code in this tag.
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-3">Is metadata protected?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-3">How do I reset the tripwire?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-4">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-4">Is metadata protected?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-5">How do I get a domain name?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-5">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-6">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-6">How do I get a domain name?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-7">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-7">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-8">Why use self-signed certificates?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-8">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-9">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-9">Why use self-signed certificates?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-10">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</a></td>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-10">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-11">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</a></td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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@ -229,16 +233,36 @@ Like any other GNU/Linux system you can add more users. It's easy to add users t
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-3" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-3">Is metadata protected?</h2>
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<h2 id="unnumbered-3">How do I reset the tripwire?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-3">
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<p>
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You will get a daily email which indicates which files on the system have changed recently. Once per week the system will install any updates and those may also show up on the list, along with any changes due to installed packages or changed settings. Watch out for any files which change unexpectedly, which could indicate an intruder. To reset the tripwire:
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</p>
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<div class="org-src-container">
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<pre class="src src-bash">ssh username@mydomain -p 2222
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su
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reset-tripwire
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</pre>
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</div>
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<p>
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You will need to press enter a couple of times. Doing this typically once per week may be a chore, and it's not completely foolproof, but it at least provides some degree of confidence that there have been no intrusions.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-4" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-4">Is metadata protected?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-4">
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<p>
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Even when using Freedombone metadata analysis by third parties is still possible. They might have a much harder time knowing what the content is, but they can potentially construct extensive dossiers based upon who communicated with your server when. Metadata leakage is a general problem with most current web systems and it is hoped that more secure technology will become available in future. But for now if metadata protection is your main concern using Freedombone won't help.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-4" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-4">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-4">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-5" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-5">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-5">
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<p>
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If you run the command:
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</p>
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@ -306,9 +330,9 @@ http://httpbin.org/ip
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-5" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-5">How do I get a domain name?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-5">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-6" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-6">How do I get a domain name?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-6">
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<p>
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Suppose that you have bought a domain name (rather than using a free subdomain on freedns) and you want to use that instead.
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</p>
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@ -376,9 +400,9 @@ You should now be able to send an email from <i>postmaster@mynewdomainname</i> a
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-6" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-6">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-6">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-7" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-7">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-7">
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<p>
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You can obtain a free "official" (as in recognised by default by web browsers) SSL certificate from <a href="https://www.startssl.com/">StartSSL</a>. You will first need to have bought a domain name, since it's not possible to obtain one for a freedns subdomain, so see <i>Using your own domain</i> for details of how to do that. You should also have tested that you can send email to the domain and receive it on the Freedombone (via Mutt or any other email client).
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</p>
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@ -558,9 +582,9 @@ Now visit your web site at <a href="https://mydomainname.com/">https://mydomainn
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-7" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-7">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-7">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-8" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-8">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-8">
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<p>
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The StartSSL certificates last for a year. You can check the expiry date of your current certificate/s by going to your site and if you're using Firefox then click on the <b>lock icon</b>, select "<b>more information</b>" then "<b>view certificate</b>".
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</p>
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@ -710,9 +734,9 @@ chmod -R 400 /etc/ssl/backups/private/*
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-8" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-8">Why use self-signed certificates?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-8">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-9" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-9">Why use self-signed certificates?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-9">
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<p>
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Almost everywhere on the web you will read that self-signed certificates are worthless. They bring up scary looking browser warnings and gurus will advise you not to use them. Self-signed certificates are quite useful though. What the scary warnings mean - and it would be good if they explained this more clearly - is that you have an encrypted connection established but there is <i>no certainty about who that connection is with</i>. The usual solution to this is to get a "real" SSL certificate from one of the certificate authorities, but it's far from clear that such authorities can be trusted. There have been various scandals involving such organisations, and it does not seem plausible to assume that they are somehow immune to the sort of treatment which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit">Lavabit</a> received. So although most internet users have been trained to look for the lock icon as an indication that the connection is secured that belief may not always be well founded.
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</p>
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@ -726,17 +750,17 @@ For now a self-signed certificate will probably in most cases protect your commu
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-9" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-9">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-9">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-10" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-10">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-10">
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<p>
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<a href="http://seppuku.cryptostorm.org/">That pledge</a> is utterly worthless. Years ago people trusted Google in the same sort of way, because they promised not be be evil and because a lot of the engineers working for them seemed like honest types who were "<i>on our side</i>". Post-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars">nymwars</a> and post-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)">PRISM</a> we know exactly how much Google cared about the privacy and security of its users. But Google is only one particular example. In general don't trust pledges made by companies, even if the people running them seem really sincere.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-10" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-10">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-10">
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-11" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-11">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-11">
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<p>
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Welcome to the world of email. Email is really the archetypal decentralized service, developed during the early days of the internet. In principle anyone can run an email server, and that's exactly what you're doing with Freedombone. Email is very useful, but it has a big problem, and that's that the protocols are totally insecure. That made it easy for spammers to do their thing, and in response highly elaborate spam filtering and blocking systems were developed. Chances are that your emails are being blocked in this way. Sometimes the blocking is so indisciminate that entire countries are excluded. What can you do about it? Unless you control the block list at the receiving end probably you can't do anything. There is zero accountability for such blocking, and you can't just contact someone and say "hey, I'm not a spammer". This system works well for the big internet companies because it effectively centralises email to a few well-known brand names and keeps any independent servers out.
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</p>
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