[nylug-talk] Weakest Links

[H. G.]

Although we we've mocked Windows users in the past for the poor state
of their client-side security (which has been markedly improving), we haven't
been truly looking at our own state.  I'm no expert, but most Linux distros
have
multiple vectors through which they can be compromised...

For example, I remember a while back (2 NYLUG meetings ago), during a
discussion
on security in Linux compared to that in Windows, it was claimed that we
would
be better protected if a Linux client machine were compromised due to user
separation.
That case is weak at best because for one, your home directory is still
directly accessible
and can be modified by just about every app you run.  Something malicious
could slip
some nastiness into your .bash[rc, _profile] or .profile or something.... or
perhaps
inject something into another applications "dot-directory" that it knows can
compromise this
other application or startup, etc.  The applications themselves (and their
corresponding libraries)
may not be compromised, but they do have write access to your home and tmp
directories,
and can use those to take malicious action against other apps you may have
installed, or
to install rootkits and the like.  (Perhaps I'm being stupid and/or
paranoid..)

We depend on hash fingerprints to verify the package files we grab from our
package
repositories to be correct, but I'm sure that I recall a while back that it
was successfully demonstrated
that one could change the contents of a file while producing the same hash?
 I think it was
for MD5, anyway.  Not to mention the fact that there have been a _slew_ of
compromises
on the repository and infrastructure servers of the leading distros (Debian,
Ubuntu, Gentoo
and $DIETY knows which others)[1].....

Redhat took the vanguard by shipping SELinux with most (all?) of its
offerings; it can even be
found in Fedora.  There exist many projects like RSBAC, PaX (part of
grsecurity).... these
should be shipping by default in the leading distros....

Anywho, my point is that we haven't addressed a lot of issues that currently
exist in Linux
today, and even though Windows is the biggest target currently, Linux's
increasing popularity
and its _wide-scale_ deployment make it an increasingly appealing target.

Of course I don't mean to patronize the clueful and responsible
administrator who knows
whats to be done, but with the increasing base of Linux desktops (Dell is
shipping pre-installed
Ubuntu, Lenovo is shipping pre-installed SuSE and it seems HP will be
shipping Redhat),
I'm concerned about increasing security on these default desktop
installations.  We need to
increase the proliferation of finer-grained security models, lest we become
the next Windows. :/

I don't mean to come off as a sensationalist, but just a few thoughts.

Alright, I'm going to return to curling up in fetal position next to my
workstation now....

[1]:
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/13/0047210
http://osdir.com/Article9888.phtml
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39118285,00.htm?r=1
https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=187971 ( !!! )
...and more, easily found with a simple Google search....