 |
 |
|
September 19, 2004Open Source Security: Still a Myth?On Valentines Day of this year I posted an entry I called Shattering the crystal and poking holes in the black box in which I discussed open vs closed security. I followed that up in April with some more information on what some other people were saying about Open Source vs. Closed Source Security. I had some interesting discussions in my comments in both of my posts; there was a lot of polarity around the subject. Well over the weekend it seems John posted a great article entitled Open Source Security: Still a Myth . He has the same views that I have on the subject. And his article is a great read. He sums up point for point what I have been saying for years. In the end it doesn't matter if open source systems tend to be more secure than proprietary systems, because on the whole they aren't yet coming close to being "secure enough." I highly suggest you check out his article! Posted by SilverStr at September 19, 2004 04:17 PM | TrackBackComments
It was an interesting article yes, but I do have to say that for 'years' you've been saying the exact opposite, that OSS is more secure, blackbox == bad, crystalbox == good, etc etc. That was before your recent revelations though :) Posted by: Arcterex at September 20, 2004 10:17 AMThats not quite right Arc. I have always contended that OSS COULD be more secure, and that as an only line of defense, blackbox == bad. However the position of black vs crystal box security, BY ITSELF, is moot. That's because I don't think it matters. The point shouldn't be if access to source code is the issue. It should be about the design and audit practices that are applied to the code base. When the code is incorrect, you can’t really talk about security. When the code is faulty, it cannot be safe. When code isn't audited, you will never be able to know the difference. Just because you CAN audit open source, doesn't mean it typically is. In the last couple of years I came to realize that. You can call it a revelation if you like; I just call it maturing in my understanding of the world of secure software engineering. Posted by: SilverStr at September 20, 2004 10:52 AM |
 
My 5 Favorite Books
Writing Secure Code
Secure Programming Cookbook Security Engineering Secure Coding Principles & Practice Inside the Security Mind
My 5 Favorite Papers
Smashing the Stack
Penetration Studies Covert Channel Analysis of Trusted Systems DoD Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria NSA Security Recommendation Guides
Archives
December 2005
November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 |
|
