Keeping Your Plug-ins Up-to-Date 263

5. In the Severity frame, highlight the security level you want to explore to show the scan findings in the frame below (see Figure 37-15).

• Figure 37-14: This port might cause a problem.

• Figure 37-15: This is a security hole.

The really good news is that Nessus doesn’t leave you hanging; a solution is included in the lower frame (see Figure 37-16).

•Figure 37-16: A security note.

6.Click the Security Note icon in the Severity frame to open a list of recommendations about the port. Be sure to scroll down through the report to see the recommendations — they’re worth the time and effort.

7.It’s not a bad idea to save your reports for later use. Just click the Save Report button at the bottom of the report to open the file selection dialog. Specify a location to save the file in, and click OK.

Save your reports for later comparisons, and you’ll see new problems as they appear.

Keeping Your Plug-ins

Up-to-Date

Nessus uses plug-ins to keep its security checks up- to-date. When a new security problem is discovered, it’s likely that someone (either at www.nessus.org or in the community of Nessus users) will write a plugin to handle the vulnerability and publish it for the benefit of other Nessus users. You can update the Nessus plug-ins on your system with one simple command.

264 Technique 37: Evaluating Your Network Security with Nessus

To update the Nessus plug-ins, open a command line and give yourself superuser privileges. Then type the following command and press Enter:

# /usr/local/sbin/nessus-update-plugins

It’s a good idea to update your plug-ins often. Consider setting the update as part of a nightly cron job. Set it up with Task Scheduler as a nightly task, and you’ll save time, and the process will be automated.

We’ve just scratched the surface of what you can do with the Nessus tool; its capabilities go far beyond the reach of this technique. If you’re interested in finding out more about Nessus, visit the Web site at www.nessus.org and explore the online documentation. Also check out the man page: $ man nessus.

38	Person-to-Person
	Networking
Technique	with IRC

Save Time By

Networking online with IRC

Customizing your KSirc workspace

There’s computer networking, and then there’s human networking. You can use IRC channels to network with other Linux users online to help solve problems and get the support you need to solve

open-source problems.

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. Yes, we’re talking about chat rooms — but specifically the chat rooms targeted to open-source and Linux users. Find the right channel though, and you can find quick access to a user or developer who may be able to help solve a problem.

IRC networking can put you in touch with experts and amateurs who use (and often write) the open-source projects that you use. Sometimes, when the documentation fails you, going online for the answers is the quickest way to find a solution for your problem.

In this technique, we introduce you to KSirc, which is one of the IRC tools included with the KDE distribution. We also show you the way to some productive, helpful chat rooms. Networking with the professionals online can be a great timesaver in a pinch.

Finding the Answers You Seek

in a Linux Chat Room

We’ve tried to provide the quickest, most dependable ways we know to implement system solutions to meet your needs. Unfortunately, system configurations vary, and your needs sometimes extend beyond the borders of what would be considered typical. In those cases, looking through online IRC channels for someone who’s encountered a similar situation can help you find a quick solution to your problem.

Most standard Linux distributions come with several IRC clients, and literally dozens of IRC clients are out there. One friendly and usable client is KSirc. KSirc is included in a standard installation of the KDE desktop on both Fedora and SuSE Linux systems.

266 Technique 38: Person-to-Person Networking with IRC

To use KSirc with Mandrake, you’ll first need to install the kdenetwork-ksirc- version.rpm package. It’s included with the distribution — see Technique 17 for information about installing RPM packages.

Follow these steps to use the KSirc IRC client:

1. On Fedora, open the Main Menu and choose Internet More Internet Applications KSirc.

On SuSE or Mandrake, open the Main Menu and choose Internet Chat Ksirc.

The KSirc Server Control dialog opens, as shown in Figure 38-1.

• Figure 38-1: The KSirc Server Control dialog.

With no connections, the server control is kind of a sad and worthless place. Establishing some connections is the first step to finding other Linux users.

2. Choose Connections New Server from the menu bar.

The Connect to Server dialog opens, as shown in Figure 38-2.

3. Use the arrow to the right of the Group field to open a drop-down list box of available servers. Scroll down and choose Freenode from the list. Then click the Connect button.

The KSirc connection window opens displaying information about the connection (see Figure 38-3).

• Figure 38-2: The Connect to Server dialog.

•Figure 38-3: The KSirc connection window.

4.Choose Channel New from the menu bar.

In the unlabeled field near the bottom of the KSirc window, enter the following command:

/list

The list of currently active channels begins to scroll by. Literally hundreds of channels are open at any given time, so the list can take a minute or two to load (see Figure 38-4).

Use the scroll bar to view the entire list. The listing shows the current time, the #name of the channel, the number of users currently in attendance, and a note about the channel’s subject matter.

5.To join the active channel discussing Fedora, enter the following command:

/join #Fedora