Re: securing this workstation.

home user via users <users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Fri, 25 Apr 2025 19:38:24 -0600



    On 4/25/25 7:02 PM, George N. White III
      wrote:

    
          On Fri, Apr 25, 2025 at 9:38 PM home user via
            users <users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
            wrote:
          
            (Fedora-42;
              stand-alone workstation)

              
              This is a totally new Fedora install on a stand-alone
              workstation, done 

              today.  It is not a part of a LAN or WAN or any other home
              or office 

              network.

            
            Please describe how the system is connected to the
              internet.  Does your system get an IPv4 address
            or IPv6?
            

    The workstation is connected to a modem via an ethernet cable. 
      The modem connects to the internet service provider (comcast) via
      common co-ax(?) cable.
    I lost ***all*** my notes.  How do I determine this workstation's
      IP address (presumably set by comcast, my internet service
      provider)?

    
              It is not dual-boot.

              I do need for Firefox, Thunderbird, and dnf to be able to
              interact with 

              the "outside world" appropriately.  I do occasionally need
              to be able to 

              download or upload things.

              Beyond those (and maybe other appropriate things that
              don't at the 

              moment come to mind), I do not want anyone or anything to
              be able to get 

              into this workstation.  For example, no "ssh", "scp",
              "rlogin".

              
              I gather from the Fedora docs that I should use firewalld
              or 

              firewalld-config.  I have both.  But Fedora docs does not
              give me enough 

              detail.  I am not an IT professional.  What specifically
              should I do to 

              keep unwanted people and things out?

            
              Many "home" internet connection hardware does network
                address translation (NAT) to a non-routable 

              
              address used by attached devices <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation>.
              Vendors support NAT because it allows one IPv4
                address to be used by all the devices on each 

              
              customer network, but it also prevents external sites
                from connecting to the devices on the
              customer network.   

              
              With NAT, connections to external systems must be
              initiated from your system, but many web sites
            use multiple external sites for elements of the page
              you see.  There is always a risk that one of these
            sites has been hacked and is serving malware or
              stealing personal information.  Firefox on Fedora
            includes some measures to block or mitigate such
              attacks.
            

          -- 

          
              George N. White III
            
          
    Thank-you, George.
    

-- 
_______________________________________________
users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fedora Code of Conduct: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Do not reply to spam, report it: https://pagure.io/fedora-infrastructure/new_issue