Security of Open vs. Closed Source Software

morhoj writes "Cambridge University researcher Ross Anderson just released a paper concluding that open source and closed source software are equally secure. Can't find a copy of the paper online yet, but I thought this would make for an interesting morning conversation. You may not agree with him, but anyone who's on the BugTraq List can tell you that open source software isn't as bug free as we would all like to think." I found Anderson's paper, so read it for yourself. There are some other interesting papers being presented at the conference as well.

Comments

FP

[Anonymous Coward]

sorry, had to do it.

fp

[Anonymous Coward]

fp? woo!!!! maybe not.. maybe...

p00p

[Anonymous Coward]

in my mouth

right now!

wankers

[Anonymous Coward]

first post?

what a bunch of twats you yanks really are.

I'm watching you get a righ kicking from Germany

Re:wankers

[Anonymous Coward]

Too right - I fucking HATE those dirty fat pillocks as well.

Nothing but fat burger munchers.

England owns you. But not all the pikeys; you can keep those.

Re:wankers

[Anonymous Coward]

What? What's that? Oh wait, didn't you pansy Brits cry like little girls after losing to Brazil?

Re:wankers

[Anonymous Coward]

Get off it.

The shitheads above do not represent America, and they sure as hell don't represent me.

For that matter, neither do the actions of our out-of-control government.

And don't forget, (and you might want to sit down for this one), Soccer/Football is only a game!

say it with me

[Anonymous Coward]

g to the oatse
c to the izzex
fo shizzle my nizzle i have nothing clever to say right now.

interesting piece

[Anonymous Coward]

.sp eht elprup yeknom keaps suriv si gidearps !

Security Begins at the Firewall

[Anonymous Coward]

#!/bin/bash
# --
# Slashdot Opensores Firewall Script
# --
# Distributed under the superior BSD license
#
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
# are met:
#
# 1.Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
# notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
# 2.Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
# copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
# disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided
# with the distribution.
# 3.The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote
# products derived from this software without specific prior
# written permission.
#
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
# WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
# ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY
# DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
# DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE
# GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
# INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER
# IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
# OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN
# IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE
#
# -- Start Here
#
IPTABLES="/sbin/iptables"

# Being gang raped by sinos is not fun
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/tcp_syncookies

${IPTABLES} -t filter -F INPUT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -F OUTPUT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -P INPUT ACCEPT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -P OUTPUT DROP

# The rulz
${IPTABLES} -t filter -A INPUT -p unprotected -s male/16 --sport penis --dport mouth -j ACCEPT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -A INPUT -p unprotected -s male/16 --sport fist --dport anus -j ACCEPT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -A INPUT -p unprotected -s male/16 --sport finger --dport anus -j ACCEPT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -A INPUT -p protected -s male/16 --sport fist --dport anus -j ACCEPT
${IPTABLES} -t filter -A INPUT -p protected -s male/16 --sport penis -j ACCEPT

# I know this may seem controversial but it feels good
${IPTABLES) -t filter -A INPUT -p unprotected -s female/16 --sport fist --dport anus -j ACCEPT
${IPTABLES) -t filter -A INPUT -p unprotected -s female/16 --sport finger --dport anus -j ACCEPT

${IPTABLES} -t filter -A OUTPUT -d female/16 -j DROP

# TODO: IMPLEMENT NAT AND DMZ
# -- Finish

SLASHBOT WARNING, MOD PARENT DOWN!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

No GOATSE.CX in parent, but Slashbotting is just as bad, in my opinion.

Re:SLASHBOT WARNING, MOD PARENT DOWN!!!

[Junior J. Junior III]

What exactly is slashbotting?

Re:Science software

[Anonymous Coward]

this is an obvious troll. please mod accordingly

Re:FP!

[Monkey Puncher]

Name: Monkey Puncher Password goatse.cx 0wned.

Re:HA HA HA HA

[Anonymous Coward]

As a holder of an MS degree, please allow me to retort.

You're fired!

Re:Might be controversial

[reflective recursion]

Admin or not: security can only be measured _now_. Not tomorrow. Not 5 minutes from now. In 3 seconds your box could be compromised from an unseen source.

That is the only thing admins can do: look after their systems. The most important knowledge an admin has is the knowledge of how to detect a security breach and how to cut the system off from the rest of the world _immediately_. After that he must check the system all over, because any number of things could be different and it should not be thought of as the same system.