linux security

[Cere M. Davis]

The idea that *nix boxes get hacked more frequently than windows boxes
does not resonate AT ALL with my experience in our department and from
what I have heard from other departments.  Again,  C&C would have better
stats on this but I am constantly hearing about windows boxes that have
been hacked with WAREZ (or whatever hack the flavor of the day) whereas
the Unix hacks seems relatively rare.  Allthough there is more of a chance
to do harm from a *unix system once the box has been ROOTed.

I certainly here of a lot of security alerts for both OS's but I am of
the opinion that Linux - in particular - has always been extremely
proactive in providing patches and updates for known security holes.
Whereas Windose?....not so much until recently.

> And I got to wondering, is it true that unix-based OS are most frequently
> hacked on campus? There seems to be a  general assumption that linux is
> inherently less secure than  Windows/Mac. Since the people who give me
> that impression are invariably Windows specialists, it's hard for me to
> tell myth from fact.
>
>
> > > That's fine, but it's extremely important that you make sure to keep it
> > > properly patched and secured while it's on our network. Unfortunately
> > > UNIX-based operating systems are the most commonly hacked systems on
> > > campus, so I'd like to make sure that any linux/unix system on our
> > > network is not going to be posing a threat. I believe that most linux
> > > distributions have some sort of auto-update feature to keep on top of
> > > patches as they are released.
> >
>
> Avery
>
>
>

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		        Cere Davis
		Unix Systems Administrator - CSDE
            cere at u.washington.edu   ph: 206.685.5346
         https://staff.washington.edu/cere

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