Need a C/C++ project related to networks

[akshayabc]

Hi friends!!!!!!!!!!
I am taking part in Red hat competition to develop a linux project. I am not able to decide on what shd i do the project.

In 1 group there r 3 ppl and we have around 8 months time, it includes 2 months vaccations also. I want to point out that we are undergraduates and we dont have much exposure of linux.

We know only C/ C++ and r more interested in Network security project. I thought firewall will be too complex. And linux has noviruses so no Antivirus. What else can we do in network security?

One of our teachers gave an idea to make snmp application which will run on 1 computer and will tell what applications are running on the computers connected to them so that u can kill harmful applications. But all this is possible just by using 'ps'.
So plz name some projects on network security. SNMP or some other will do, provided it is interesting. Or add something to our teachers idea.

Thanx in advance......

Akshey

[Narue]

>I thought firewall will be too complex.
If you do it right, yes.

>And linux has noviruses so no Antivirus.
Heheh, you've led a sheltered life. :)

>What else can we do in network security?
A lot. If you think that antivirus and firewalls are all there is to security then you have plenty to learn. Especially on Linux, intrusion detection is a good project because crackers traditionally have a tendency to flock toward Linux (and Unix, or indirectly with shell accounts) as a system to exploit because of the powerful command line tools and vaunted server status among those systems.

An authorization layer for incoming and outgoing traffic is also a nice project and it's relatively simple. This can be especially handy for "trusted breakins" on a server oriented network where an internal network user tries to steal sensitive data. Or you could work up a secure network backup method including strong encryption and compression for effective transfer to an offline storage facility. Or you could check background processes for malicious activity such as keyloggers.

As a creative alternative, you could write a penetration tool that tests the security of a network by trying to break in from the outside rather than works to ensure it from the inside.

[Lerner]

As a creative alternative, you could write a penetration tool that tests the security of a network by trying to break in from the outside rather than works to ensure it from the inside.

Is intent all there is between viruses/worms/trojan horses and "penetration tools"?

[Narue]

>Is intent all there is between viruses/worms/trojan horses and "penetration tools"?
The only difference between a benign penetration tool and a malicious one is the payload. The techniques for exploiting weaknesses and getting into a system are identical, otherwise the benign penetration tool would be useless as it's designed to simulate a real attack.