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Fighting Claims That Open Source Is Insecure?
Lumpy asks: "Lately there has been a HUGE push by Certified Microsoft Professionals and their companies to call clients and warn them of the dangers of open source. This week I received calls from 4 different customers that they were warned that they are dangerously insecure because they run Open Source Operating systems or Software because 'anyone can read the code and hack you with ease' they are being told. Other colleagues in the area also have noticed this about 3 Microsoft Partners or so they claim have been going out of their way to strike fear of OSS in companies that respond with 'yes we use Open source or Linux' when the sales call comes in. I know this is simply a sales tactic by these companies that will remain nameless, but how do I fix the damage caused by these sales tactics? I have several customers that now want more than my word about the security of the systems that have worked for them flawlessly for over 5-6 years now with minimal expense outside of upgrades and patching for security. Does anyone have a good plan or sources of reliable information that can be used to inform the customer?"
I think one of the most powerful ways to demonstrate open source is to show people how much they are using without even knowing it.
On a couple of occasions I've spoken to IT people who have said things like "we'd never touch open source because..." and then I've been able to point out multiple ways they use it without realising it. If they use google, if they use email, if they use many websites, then they're using open source software. Many bits of hardware contain open source code (wifi boxes for instance). Many companies are using Apache for their web sites without realising it.
Another good argument is just to spout off a list of Fortune 500 companies who use open source to run their websites. "it's secure enough for IBM, but not secure enough for you?" is the type of argument that's difficult to counter. Very often they just don't know much about it.
The problem you have to fight in people who say things like "open source is insecure" is their ignorance.
"'anyone can read the code and hack you with ease'"
Likewise, anyone can read the code and repair it with ease.
High-profile projects run by responsible people will benefit from the "many eyeballs" approach and be better quality than if they were closed-source run by a team of a few or dozens of people.
The FUDsters do have a point when it comes to out-of-date or low-profile software:
If an adversary knows YOU run last-year's version of apache or that you run some obscure open-source database on your web site, they can find and exploit bugs that are either already fixed or that nobody else is looking for.
The moral of the story:
1) Stay current with security patches
2) Hide what you use from the adversary. If they don't know you run ObscureWebServer 1.0, they don't know to try attacking it first. Keep them guessing.
3) Make sure the official vendor/caretaker takes reports of security breaches seriously and is willing to consider patches from the community
above all,
4) Don't depend on your software's security to protect your assets. Make sure you have good backups. Train your employees against social engineering attacks.
Security is but one of many factors that go into the open/closed source decision.
For me, two of the biggest factors are:
1) if the product is abandoned or sunsetted, I can maintain it myself or hire someone to maintain it
2) If I don't care about paid-for support, I can use the product on as many machines as I want without worrying about "product activation" or getting sued.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I have several customers that now want more than my word about the security of the systems that have worked for them flawlessly for over 5-6 years now with minimal expense outside of upgrades and patching for security.
Try IBM,
http://www-1.ibm.com/linux/opensource/
Download some of the report PDFs and send them to your clients.
This week I received calls from 4 different customers that they were warned that they are dangerously insecure because they run Open Source Operating systems or Software because 'anyone can read the code and hack you with ease' they are being told.
I'd have your sales rep call your clients and let them know that your company shares thier concern. At the same time remind them of SQL Slammer, Code Red, Melissa, Blaster, etc. Point out all the other companies using OSS products, Google, Wall Street, etc.
Of course I'm just a programmer, so take my comments with a grain of salt.
Enjoy,
It's just the normal noises in here.
One word:
botnets
Then you can explain how it's actually the closed source OS that is the most damaging.
Hell, just show them some apache logs that are still constantly being hit by things like IIS servers still infected with Sasser, years after it should have been eradicated.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
You might say, yes yes, I know about all that, but you can't actually do that in practice. I would bet, though, that some of the early electronic calculators were proven correct. The people making them in the very beginning were probably interested in such things. Perhaps some apps running on MIT LISP machines were also proven (LISP is easiest to prove, and the MIT AI lab people are the type to do it), although in this case it is unlikely that the entire platform up to the app was also proven. So it is not so cut and dried as to allow you to say that there are no completely secure apps. Reasonable, useful apps today, probably none are completely secure, since I doubt that any kernels are completely secure if for no other reason. But nonetheless, it is possible to have 100% bug free, 100% secure software.
SIGSEGV caught, terminating
wait... not that kind of sig.