When One Witness Isn't Enough: Remote Verification for AIDE

#fileintegrity #distributedsystems #linuxadmin #tamperdetection

Traditional AIDE setups trust the system they’re monitoring — which is exactly what attackers exploit. This article shows how to extend AIDE with remote verification, using standard Linux tools to build a tamper-evident, distributed integrity system.

🔗 Read the full article:
👉 Remote Verification for AIDE

🧩 The Problem

AIDE is great — but it's only as trustworthy as the system it runs on. If an attacker gains root access, they can:

Modify files and regenerate the AIDE database
Forge GPG signatures (if keys are stolen)
Rewrite the ledger chain to cover their tracks

In other words: local-only verification doesn’t cut it.

🔐 The Solution: Remote Verification

Move the trust boundary off the compromised system. Here's how:

Use rsync + SSH to securely push AIDE results to a remote server.
Harden SSH with restricted keys + forced commands (no shell access).
Validate AIDE artifacts using cryptographic chains (GPG + ledger files).
Compare with archived baselines to detect tampering or rollback attempts.

🧪 Tools Used

All open-source, nothing exotic:

AIDE for local integrity monitoring
rsync for minimal, efficient syncing
OpenSSH with forced commands for transport security
GPG for signing and verification
tar, diff, and bash for archive handling

🔄 What’s in the Article

Architecture overview with diagrams
SSH configuration examples (restricted keys)
Sample rsync command with filters
Ledger chaining concept explained
Commands you can test in your own environment

🧠 Who It's For

This is ideal for:

Linux sysadmins managing critical infrastructure
DevOps/SREs with compliance or audit needs
Security engineers building defense-in-depth systems
Anyone running AIDE and wondering, “what stops an attacker from faking it?”

📌 Takeaway

This isn’t about making systems unbreakable — it’s about raising the bar. By verifying AIDE results remotely, you make it harder for attackers to hide, and easier for defenders to detect.

👉 Full article: Remote Verification for AIDE

Tags:
#linux #security #aide #devops #sysadmin #cybersecurity #opensource