On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Balasubramaniam Natarajan <bala150...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi > > I have always wondered that the ubuntu machine which I work with receives > lots of security updates, if so why not the modems which we use as it is > direcly on the line of fire. Are there any tips to harden the Modem which > we get from the local ISP ?
Some reasons which I believe deserve a mention 1. Distros like Ubuntu run off testing branch, if you'd use something like Debian stable you'd have lesser updates. 2. A lot of updates you see are related to desktop software, which are mostly feature updates or small fixes rather than security fixes. The security fixes you receive are relatively lesser. 3. My little experience with embedded systems, which your routers would fall under, are much more tightly bound together than desktop distros so releasing updates for it is a relatively difficult task. 4. The companies producing these products are more of a hardware company than software. They have little to no incentive to keep providing regular software upgrades. They'd rather focus on quickly releasing new hardware in the market. If you combine all the 4 above reasons you'd see why it's uncommon to see regular software updates to your modems/routers. Think about how often do even smartphones receive security updates? Mostly what you'd see are feature upgrades. -- With Regards, Mehul Ved _______________________________________________ ILUGC Mailing List: http://www.ae.iitm.ac.in/mailman/listinfo/ilugc
