Advanced Network Security: CentOS Server Hardening and Configuration

This document presents a comprehensive solution to an advanced network security assignment, focusing on hardening a CentOS 7 server. The assignment requires the installation and configuration of Oracle VM VirtualBox, followed by the installation of the CentOS 7 64-bit Server operating system. The solution details the creation of a virtual machine with a dynamically allocated VMDK hard disk. It outlines the steps for setting up a root user with a specified password and creating a separate user. Furthermore, the solution encompasses the installation and configuration of Apache, PHP, and MySQL. The document then proceeds to address various security measures, including server updates, partition management, setting security options for partitions, and configuring the server's network settings. It covers disabling unnecessary services like X Windows and FTP, and configuring the mail transfer agent (MTA). The solution also includes steps to disable packet redirects, activate logs for suspicious packets, enforce IP address restrictions, enable host-based firewalls, and install and configure rsyslog and auditing. Additionally, the solution covers setting password creation requirements, limiting password attempts, and disabling insecure protocols like Telnet, FTP, rlogin, rsh, and rcp. Finally, the document provides references to the sources used.