Sathish,
It is true that the source code for Linux is available to everyone, but it isn't as much of a security risk as you may think. Though would-be attackers can look at the code, so can people who are trying to make it secure. Security wise, Linux is at least as stable as most other Un*xes and NT.
Secondly, because Linux is developed by so many people, most (if not all) of whom take their work very seriously, if there was malicious code, thousands of people would see it. That is the strength of open source development. You know exactly (or at least someone knows) what is going into your system...
Thirdly, Linux development is quite stable. While people change (look at the M$ employee turnover rate) the development will most likely proceed as it is now for quite some time.
And last, I would say that Linux is probably a good choice for security if you can't afford a more serious system such as Solaris. It is stable, it is safe, and if there is a security bug a patch will be released quickly to fix it... Of course, if something does happen, don't blame me.
Adam Moskof
Internet and System Administrator
Corporate Information Technologies
Orbotech Ltd.
Yavne, ISRAEL
(w) 972-8-9423058
(c) 972-5-4789952
(f) 972-8-9423866
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: sathish [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 9:34 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FW1] Linux based Checkpoint Installation
Hi,
We are planning to install Checkpoint 4.1 on Linux, our concern is
1. As this is security related issue and Linux source code is available freely to everyone ?
2. Linux is developed by a group of developers and can we trust that what ever these developers have contributed doesnot have malicious programs built into it ?
3.Future OS updates will be again thru the same group of develpers ?
4. Is it safe going with linux for security solutions or opt for NT, UNIX ?
regs
Sathish M R
Network Systems Engineer
Euclid India Limited
Bangalore.
