[COMP] Re: Fw: Closed source is more secure
- From: John Madden <weez@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: computers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 21:34:18 -0500
On Wednesday 18 April 2001 20:51, you wrote:
> > Sure it is. MS fruitcake explains why.
> >
> > <http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/8/18286.html>
>
> argh ...
AAH! Ok, let's take this one point at a time. =)
(btw, "MS" below refers either to comments made by the Microsoft rep, or
chunks written by the Register)
MS: "The head of Microsoft's security response team argued here Thursday
that closed source software is more secure than open source projects, in
part because nobody's reviewing open source code for security flaws. "
Me: Wrong. Case in point: OpenBSD, a project that's entirely *about*
auditing code for weaknesses.
MS: "Review is boring and time consuming, and it's hard," said Steve
Lipner, manager of Microsoft's security response center. "Simply putting
the source code out there and telling folks 'here it is' doesn't provide
any assurance or degree of likelihood that the review will occur."
Me: Eh, let's say correct. Code review is hard and time consuming.
Boring? Depends who you are. Either way, it's obviously not happening at
Microsoft, either. See point #1 -- code audits are happening *constantly*
in the open source world.
MS: "Lipner, who oversees Microsoft's response to newly-reported security
holes in its products, took the opportunity to point out "the repeated and
recurring vulnerabilities in the Unix utilities BIND, WU-FTP, and so on.
The repeated theme is people use this stuff, but they don't spend time
security reviewing."
Me: Yeah, and if you run wu-ftpd or Bind, you're asking for trouble
anyway, and have been for years. They're crappy, poorly-written products,
and that has nothing to do with whether or not their source code is open.
Example: djbdns, my DNS package of choice, is also open, and gauranteed by
the author not to have any holes, or he'll personally pay you 500 bucks.
MS: "Lipner slammed the open source development process, suggesting that
the often-voluntary nature of creating works like the Linux operating
system make it less disciplined, and less secure. "The open source model
tends to emphasize design and development. Testing is boring and
expensive."
Me: Less disciplined?! When was the last time a fix for hole in something
open took weeks to get a fix for? Why is it that a multi-national, multi
billion-dollar company can't release a patch for a simple problem within a
reasonable amount of time? Sounds like poor software development
practices to me.
MS: By contrast, Microsoft does extensive testing on every product, and on
every patch, said Lipner. "People ask us why our security patches take so
long. One of the reasons they take so long is because we test them."
Me: Ah-hah, thanks for answering that one, Lipner. Uhm, wait, did *you*
come up with that on your own, or did Marketing hand you that on company
letterhead? So it takes you weeks to test patches? Well, that's funny,
see, because generally, when a problem is found in open source stuff, a
working patch is supplied by the person who found the problem.
...Strange...
MS: "Lipner closed by warning that the nature of open source development
may lend itself to abuse by malicious coders, who could devilishly clever
'trapdoors' in the code that escapes detection, hidden in plain sight."
Me: Ugh, I'm gonna be sick. The backdoors argument again, eh? Well,
let's try to prove there aren't any in any one of Microsoft's products.
MS: Under polite questioning from the audience, Lipner acknowledged that
some closed-source commercial products have been found to have trapdoors
themselves.
Me: Well, so kind of you to acknowledge that -- why not make it part of
your already-shaky argument for next time...
...
EndRant();
John
--
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