How an Operating System Can Provide Security to an E-Commerce Server
E-commerce websites require a high level of availability to ensure customers have access to the products a company sells. A major aspect of maintaining uptime is security of the e-commerce server itself. Each operating system vendor provides some levels of security, but each server owner must implement additional security controls beyond OS security to achieve defense in depth.
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Firewalls
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Most modern operating systems like Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris and various Linux distributions provide some form of built-in firewall. In Windows, it is known as the "Windows Firewall" while in Linux and Solaris it is known as "IPTables." Each firewall must be configured to permit or deny the traffic the e-commerce company wants.
User Access Controls
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User access controls provide the next layer of security. Controlling root or administrator access is a vital part of security. Carefully assign each user only the permissions their role requires. Each operating system provides the ability to customize these permissions and roles on a granular level.
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System Integrity
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Each operating system vendor provides some level of file integrity. File integrity ensures that files and directories do not change without user knowledge. Windows provides System Restore functionality. Each critical file in the operating system is backed up and when unauthorized changes are detected, the user has the option of restoring those files. Linux provides open source distributions of file integrity software like Tripwire.
Logging
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Critical system activity must be logged. System logs provide a forensic trail for system administrators to follow when security events occur. Each operating system has its own methods for logging user and system activity.
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References
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