Article View: comp.security.misc
Article #561Re: Beta testers needed for security tool
From: My name is...
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1992 09:02
Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1992 09:02
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6461 bytes
In article <Bu47uI.GnM@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, genek@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Gene Kim) writes... > >Announcing the pending availability of > > Tripwire: A Unix File Integrity Checker > > This message is being posted to various newsgroups and mailing >lists to gather a group of beta-testers for a new security tool called >Tripwire. Tripwire was written by Gene Kim, currently at Purdue >University, under the direction of Professor Gene Spafford. > > Tripwire should be of significant interest to system >administrators concerned about timely detection of system file >tampering on their Unix hosts. > > >Goal of Tripwire: >================= > > With the advent of increasingly sophisticated and subtle >account break-ins on Unix systems, the need for tools to aid the >detection of unauthorized modification of files becomes clear. >Tripwire is a tool that aids system administrators and users in >monitoring a designated set of files for any changes. Used with >system files on a regular basis, Tripwire can notify system >administrators of corrupted or tampered files, so damage control >measures can be taken in a timely manner. > > Tripwire is a system file integrity checker, a utility that >compares a designated set of files and directories against >information stored in a previously generated database. Any >differences are flagged and logged, and optionally, a user is >notified through mail. When run against system files on a >regular basis, changes in critical system files would be spotted >at the next time-interval when Tripwire is run, so damage >control measures may be implemented immediately. With >Tripwire, system administrators can conclude with a high degree >of certainty that a given set of files remain untouched from >unauthorized modifications, provided the program and database are >appropriately protected (e.g., stored on read-only disk). > > Tripwire uses message digest algorithms (cryptographic >checksums) to detect changes in a hard-to-spoof manner. This >should be able to detect significant changes to critical files, >including those caused by insertion of backdoors or viruses. It >also monitors changes to file permissions, modification times, >and other significant changes to inodes as selected by the system >administrator on a per-file/directory basis. > >What we need: >============= > > As of this writing, Tripwire runs successfully on both BSD >and System V variants of Unix. Among the operating systems >Tripwire has run on are: > > SunOS 5.x (SVR4) > SunOS 4.x (BSD 4.3) > Dynix 3.x (BSD 4.2) > > Compiling Tripwire should be as simple as editing the config.h >file to set the appropriate #defines, and typing 'make'. > > A pool of beta-testers is needed to ensure that Tripwire >works predictably on a wide variety of systems. Of particular >interest are system administrators using the following operating >systems: > > AIX > AUX > BSD4.4 > HP/UX > Mach > NextOS > OSF/1 > SVR3.x > Ultrix > Unicos > Xenix > System III > Versions 6, 7, 8, & 9 :-) > other versions we didn't list > > A config.h file allows you to tailor Tripwire around your >system specifics, such as the locations of system utilities (like >sort and diff), and desired lookup pathnames to your Tripwire >database files. > > Possible porting trouble-spots are generally restricted to >dirent(S5)/direct(BSD) funkiness and #defines that changed for >POSIX compliance (such as those in <sys/types.h> for stat.st_mode). > > Hopefully the process of beta-testing will highlight any >problems before any widely-released distribution. It is also >hoped that reasonable system defaults for a wide variety of >systems can be gathered from a diverse set of beta-testers. >This would allow useful plug-and-play builds for the majority of >Tripwire users. > > >What you'd get as a beta-tester: >================================ > > The entire source to Tripwire, manual pages, a README, and >the Tripwire design document. > > >What you'd need to do: >====================== > > You will need to install the code on your system and run >it. You will need to report back any bugfixes, enhancements, >optimizations or other code-diddling that you believe useful. If >you build a configuration file for a new system, you will need >to send this back. You will have to collect some performance >data. You will need to provide some honest, critical feedback on >utility, clarity, documentation, etc. > > You will need to do all this by about October 21. > > >Are you interested? >=================== > > If so, please fill out the form at the end of this message, and >send it to (genek@mentor.cc.purdue.edu). We will only take two or >three respondents for each system type for the beta test. > > Please allow some time for processing and selection of >beta-testers. I promise to reply to all requests as >expeditiously as possible. > > A formal release of Tripwire is planned for sometime in >November. Watch this space for details! > >Gene Kim >September 4, 1992 > >=============================================================================== > >Name: >Email address: >System configuration: > machine type > operating system > version > >Site information: (completely optional) > type of site (ie: university, corporate, military, etc...) > comments on machine security > (ie: numerous break-in attempts on our dialback servers, > repeated intrusions through network, etc...) > >===============================================================================
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Newsgroups: comp.security.misc,alt.security,alt.sources.d,comp.sources.testers,comp.unix.admin Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!jvnc.net!news.edu.tw!news!nchud5.nchu.edu.tw!vax9k.dnet@nchud1.nchu.edu.tw!401yclee From: 401yclee%vax9k.dnet@nchud1.nchu.edu.tw (My name is...) Subject: Re: Beta testers needed for security tool Message-ID: <1992Oct9.090254.2285@nchud5.nchu.edu.tw> Sender: usenet@nchud5.nchu.edu.tw (USENET account) Nntp-Posting-Host: nchuv9 Organisation: National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan Organization: NCHU, TAIWAN References: <Bu47uI.GnM@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 09:02:40 GMT Lines: 155