Security in the cloud, KISS
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Tags: The second article in a series on using cloud computing services.
The idea of keeping things simple when it comes to server security is not at all radical and cloud servers provide the ability to reach the not so lofty goal of keeping your servers simple and secure without breaking the bank.
The theory is simple: The smaller the number of processes you have running on your box the less there is to go wrong, or attack. This is one area where Windows based servers are immediately at a disadvantage over a *ix server, but I digress.
When I was pretending to be a hosting provider a few years ago I ran colocated discrete servers. They weren't cheap to own or run, not by a long shot. That cost was a huge enemy of the KISS security concept.
In the process of trying to squeeze every last cent of value from the boxes I overloaded them with every obscure daemon and process I could think of. Subsequently the configuration of the servers became complex and difficult to manage, while applying patches became a cause of sleepless nights and caffeine abuse.
With the cost to deliver a virtual server in the cents per hour and the ability to build a new server in a matter of minutes the barrier to building complex applications with a robust security architecture is all but vanished.
The mySQL server behind this blog site is a base install of Debian Lenny with mySQL, nullmailer, knockd and an iptables firewall script. That's it. Simple to build, simple to configure, simple to backup and simple to manage. KISS.
A little bit of searching around on hardening up a linux box and you'll quickly find information on changing default settings for sshd and iptables rulesets which you can combine with small targeted cloud servers to reduce the sleepless nights.
I can't help with the coffee addiction though, I'm still trying to kick that habit myself!
