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Is Open-Source Security Software Safe?
Alex Salkever, Business Week 2001-12-11

Companies such as Guardent are so sure it is that they're building entire corporate product lines around it

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Quote from article:- 2001-12-12
Mark O
Is Open-Source Security Software Safe? 2001-12-12
Javier Fernández-Sanguino Peña
The article seems to miss some prominent uses of Open Source software in the security area. For example:

- Watchguard's Firebox which is based around Linux using netfilter (which they pay the author to improve)

- IPSO software used by Nokia which is really a hardened OpenBSD in which they base all their security eppliances (firewalls, antivirus, IDS...)

- Mcaffe's Webshield e500 a two processor Intel running RedHat 7.0 that can be used for an antivirus gateway

- Stonesoft's Stonebeat firewall cluster, which runs a modified Debian GNU/Linux OS.

Vendors, however, have seen the benefit of using Open Source in their developments (reduced CTO) but have not yet seen the benefit due to Open Source (better yet, free software) by itself in the security field: code audit. As such, most of the open source-based products are not open sourced themselves and most vendor modifications do not ( sometimes violating the same licenses they use) get released as open source too.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/articles/297/9148#9148







 

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