For the geeks:Building a secure pc part 1.

First,if you don't really like it,geeky techy stuff...I suggest you move on.Not that you aren't welcome to read it anyways but yeah...

Second,although I am a big security enthusiast,I am still a noob.Sure I know how to find information about the subject and I am well informed about it,but it is incomparable to real security proffesionals.

Third,this is purely theoretical,I am not actually setting this up myself and testing.

And yes,there might be a part 2 some day...maybe.Not promising anything.

Let's start with IT security.What even is that?

Computer security (Also known as cybersecurity or IT Security) is information security as applied to computers and networks.

The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which computer-based equipment, information and services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters.

U got that?Great!Because it was copy pasted from Wikipedia!
Also you can split up IT security into physical and software security.Physical security is about securing the pc physically...from unauthorized access,theft etc...And software security is self explanatory.I hope to do a little bit of both.

And this is a sentence you should remember."Security through obscurity!"
This will be a general guideline on our software choices.Basically the more obscure your software is the less known security holes there are.Even better if you can make your own software.

Before we continue you have to know that there are no 100% secure computers.Even if you turned it off and put it inside fort Knox,someone might still launch multiple nukes at fort Knox.

Now,the most important choice.The choice of the operating system.Basically forget about Windows.Windows is just a big security gap.Billions of viruses and malware and exploits everything.And while you are at it,forget about macs too.They are just a little bit more secure than windows.Linux is good.There aren't any critical virus outbreaks for Linux,it has a well defined superuser system,and it is not bloated with potential security holes.

And there is nothing else...or is it?Yes,yes there is.Freebsd and other bsd like systems.Probably even more secure than Linux,built by "security freaks" for "more security freaks".Unfortunately I have never used so I will write this from a Linux perspective.

When choosing your linux distro make sure it has SELinux installed.You might check out the distro called "Kali Linux".Or if you are 1337 enough you might try to make a Linux From Scratch(a.k.a. LFS) distribution.

Anyhow,that is it for part 1.

The introduction

First,please turn off your grammar nazi mod, I do not care.

Second, Why left alignment? Because I am special!

Third if I can I want to do everything... LIKE A BOSS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NisCkxU544c

Fourth I have a very ecclectic taste for almost everything.

Anyway, this is the part where I start introducing myself. My nickname is "The blue dragon". My high school colleagues gave it to me,and at first I hated it. However one day I noticed that it sounds like a badass epic nickname from something like lord of the rings or something like that and gradually I started to like it. My real name is Mario Kamenjak. I am an IT student at the polytechnic of Zagreb. And I am a relatively good student there, unfortunately not one of the top 5 yet, but give it time. Among others my skills include html/css(including html5 and css3), C programming, C++ programming(but I prefer C for various reasons which I will tell you in a later blog post), e-commerce(including a little bit of marketing strategies), computer science in general(including electronics and software), English, German...

What are my interests? My three main interests among others...

Well obviously computer science... Also there is Metal music which plays a big part in my life and anime. Oh yeah and occasionally I try and do some art... in the physical or virtual world. To me there is simply no other genre of music that is so great and that has that much "raw energy" inside of it. And basically I need that raw energy a lot. It is the only music that gets me 100% excited. Metal is just that,it basically says: "Good is never good enough for music,music has to be awesome!". Anime is my anti drug. I am intrigued by the Japanese culture,I love the interesting stories and the intriguing characters and their back stories and the overall epicness that occurs very often in anime. Thanks to anime we have many many great imaginary characters like L, Roy Mustang, Light Yagami, Lelouch vi Britannia ,Son Goku, the Elric brothers, Dante, Alucard... And nothing is as cute as anime characters, when they are supposed to be cute... I like most sub-genres of anime be it Yuri, Horror, Action, Slice of life as long as the anime itself is any good.As for art... I guess I am just artistic.

What interests me the most in computer science?

Linux(and the whole FOSS community) and Computer security. Linux,well it really was love at first sight.I tried it the first time somewhere around 2010. At that time I was already a Windows user for 11 years and Windows really became became pale and unexciting to me. And with it I was almost getting bored of computers. In fact almost all I did was just play games,nothing productive.I was even a Windows Vista fanboy. Then I  booted my first Linux distro(Mandriva Linux 2010) and suddenly a whole new world of software,free software opened up to me.Computing became once again exciting,kind of like "the wild west" for me.I became an obsessed geek again. A fast,nice and sleek OS that just worked and that was customizable to the last byte. And as a social-libertarian/social-anarchist I LOVE the FOSS ideology.

Now about "Computer security". It is also very exciting for me,mainly because I like this spy/detective stuff. I would even go as far as to say that I would like to become a kind of "IT detective". Basically I would love to have something like the most secure PC in the country,just for bragging rights. And the feeling of superiority when you know that you could hack almost every pc in your perimeter. I am sure that is a great feeling. Really I consider security people to be very close to the top of the industry, because security work is really for those "Jack of all trades" kind of people. My dream job is to become a penetration tester. Those guys really have to be at the top of their game. A penetration tester basically does the same thing a cracker would do except he is paid for it and does it for improving the computer security of the customer. I am also a bit interested into programming.Mostly in the hopes to develop FOSS applications and to contribute to the Linux kernel.

What skills do I hope to gain one day?
Of course all the skills I need to become a Linux wizard and all the skills I need to become a succesful penetration tester or "IT detective". I would also like to further improve my skill in C programming. Also I would like to learn python and assembly one day. Among other things of course.

Now you have a general overview of what I will be writing on my blog. I do not  promise regular updates because... because. But please do check out this blog occasionally.
+David Macan +Mario Novoselec +Ivan Juratovac +Alen Huskanovic +Hrvoje Kovačićek +Linus Torvalds