Re: [OT]: is this crap? -> wininformant headline "Most Insecure OS? Yep, It's Linux"
On Thu, 2002-11-28 at 11:08, David Ellis wrote:
> At the risk of being terribly unpopular I thought I'd share my personal
> experience.
>
> For 6 months I was running a Windows NT 4.0 based web, ftp and email server
> (exchange 5.5) with the latest service packs (SP 6a+), and a weekly "Windows
> Update". These machines for their lifetime were completely unhacked. My
> email server wasn't an open relay, all was right with the world :).
>
> 4 months ago I switched to Redhat 7.2 - patched weekly with the Redhat
> network. This infrastructure was hacked repeatedly, my email server was an
> open relay, my ftp server was being brought down every other day, my web
> server had the apache service brought down repeatedly, I was rebuilding my
> boxes every three days. In short it was HELL.
>
> I switched to Debian Woody about three weeks ago, installing the bsd based
> ftp server (not that leaky wu-ftpd), the latest apache, exim, and cyrus. So
> far so good - no hacks, reject log shows the bounced relay requests, and the
> web service has been solid (although a browse through the logs shows the
> buffer and cgi attacks being tried).
>
> In short the article is almost right:
> - Older Linux Distributions ARE vulnerable, the patches to fix
> vulnerabilities on the older releases almost never work right (IMO), and
> this is a problem.
I'd say, rather, that RPM doesn't have a "configure" mechanism like
dpkg/deb does, and that the RH72 /etc config-file *defaults* suck.
A knowledgeable Unix SysAdmin *can* make RH72 very secure.
> - Older Windows Releases ARE vulnerable, but the patches to fix the
> vulnerabilities DO work.
> - Linux is maturing, and personally I like the choice and flexibility it
> provides. Particularly with older equipment.
>
> Despite the almost troll like language and bias, the authors facts are
> correct. It's his conclusion that is wrong.
>
> My off topic two cents.
[snip]
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