On Tue, 2003-10-21 at 20:21, HaywireMac wrote: > On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 15:03:22 -0700 > James Sparenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> uttered: > > > <snip>.....in this case a hacker named Silvio Cesare, who proved with > > an alarming degree of success that one can patch a statically compiled > > kernel in memory. As time progresses, this will probably evolve into > > the standard means of putting a backdoor in a Linux system....</snip> > > What's funny is this guy actually thinks it's relevant, or that he knows > what he's talking about, hence my reference to the "my dad..." comment. > > If someone can gain root access in order to patch a running kernel, yer > already owned.
Not true, I've seen the paper he refers to. It's possible to patch a running kernel in order to gain ownership... that's the scary part. > > This is hype, pure and simple, another attempt to gain notoriety by > pointing out "flaws" in a kernel that has proved itself beyond question > more secure than the "other" kernel. No he didn't do this. What he said was that a piecemeal attempt at security is not a solution, instead it's a path to death. True security occurs will all parts are in concert. What good is a firewall if the chat software allows a rootkit to come down along with a message? His point is that piecemeal security and patches are a lot like locking a screen door. Nice idea but eventually someone will figure out how to cut the screen. Patching the screen may close the hole but it doesn't increase security. He's right it has to be a ground up decision/effort. > > To further claim that Linux needs to go the route of the Trusted > Computing initiative...well, yer right, that's not funny, that's scary. And inline with a harsh reality. Linux is not secure. It can be made secure. But in and of itself it isn't. Security comes not from what the OS is. But on whether or not the tools exist to make that OS secure. Take a look at NSA linux if you want to see some really neat stuff about security. James
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