Linux more secure than Windows, national survey shows.In its first annual Security Issues Survey for the debut of the Software Security Summit conference in La Jolla La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and , California, BZ Research polled 6,344 software development managers about the security of different popular enterprise operating environments and Linux and open source consistently topped Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. respondents. Summary findings of the initial results will be presented today at the Software Security Summit by conference chairman Alan Zeichick. The summit features more than 30 sessions and speakers, including keynote presentations by Mary Ann Davidson Mary Ann Davidson is the Chief Security Officer of Oracle Corporation, the second largest software company in the world. Her outspoken views regarding software security and role as security spokesperson for a leading database product have made hers an important voice among computer , Chief Security Officer for Oracle Corporation, Amit Yoran Amit Yoran was the National Cyber Security Division director within the United States Department of Homeland Security. He took up the post in September 2003 and resigned in October 2004. , former cyber chief in the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States , and James A. Whittaker James A. Whittaker is a professor of computer science at the Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) and is founder of Security Innovation. In 1992, he earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Tennessee. , noted author of books on security and Chief Scientist at Security Innovation, Inc. The Security Issues Survey initial findings showed software managers consistently ranked Linux more secure than Windows, with client operating systems and applications seen as most susceptible to security exploits. The survey also explored the use of security vulnerability assessment A Department of Defense, command, or unit-level evaluation (assessment) to determine the vulnerability of a terrorist attack against an installation, unit, exercise, port, ship, residence, facility, or other site. and testing tools, with most respondents saying their organizations don't do enough testing and that they plan to do more. The margin of error for the survey is 2.5 percentage points. Asked to rate the security of server operating environments against operating system related hacks and exploits, Windows Server fared worst by far. Some 58% rated Windows Server very insecure or insecure versus 13% for Linux. Sun Solaris fared best, with only 6% rating the operating system very insecure or insecure. On the positive side, some 74% of respondents rated Linux secure or very secure versus only 38% for Windows Server. Sun Solaris was rated secure or very secure by 66%. Asked about the security of operating systems against application-related hacks and exploits, Windows Server was again rated least secure. Some 58% of respondents rated Windows Server as very insecure or insecure versus 18% for Linux. On the other hand, Linux was deemed secure or very secure by 66% of respondents versus only 30% for Windows Server. When queried about comparing the security of open source versus proprietary software in eight categories, open source was the clear winner in four of the categories: desktop/ client operating systems (44% to 17%); Web servers (43% to 14%); server operating systems (38% to 22%); and components and libraries (34% to 18%). Proprietary software was said to be more secure than open source in only one category, database servers (34% to 21%). Results were statistically the same in three categories: desktop/ client applications, server applications and application servers. |
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