Explaining Linux Security
by George Wilson <gcwilson@us.ibm.com>, IBM Linux Technology Center
Operating system security features are notoriously difficult to explain. Folks who work on security have their own specialized vocabulary, which serves well to communicate concisely with other members of our community. However, it can be difficult to translate concepts into everyday language. Have you ever tried talking about SELinux to those who have never been exposed to MAC? You have to provide a large amount of background material simply to describe what SELinux is, let alone what interesting things can be done with it.
The LTC Security Development Team have developed a number of security features over the years. We’ve discussed them on mailing lists, written conference papers, and otherwise communicated our work to other technical folks. However, explaining the relevance of Linux security features to non-geeks remains a difficulty.
To help address the communications gap, the LTC Security Development Team in concert with the Information Development Team have created a customer-level Linux security brochure. In it, we discuss the various capabilities we have helped bring to Linux distros. Please take a look. It is available for download here: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/linux/pdfs/LTC/SecurityTeam.pdf, which BTW is one of the many resources available from the LTC Library here: http://www-03.ibm.com/linux/ltc/whitepapers.html.
Doc Shankar
The issue still is how can a user use MAC without knowing what it is! This is still the problem with SELinux. A majority of the folks attending the SELinux session last year at LWE said they had SELinux disbaled.
They were looking for some kind of magic from IBM, which i didn’t have!
Imagine if i had to know about electromagnetics, to use a microwave oven!
We need an AppArmor type interface with a powerful engine like SELinux!
Bob
We all know there is only one use of the abbreviation MAC right? Media Access Control
Um, tell me again why security is confusing for the beginner?
Open Source Security » Blog Archive » Explaining Linux Security | Linux Affinity
[...] more here: Open Source Security » Blog Archive » Explaining Linux Security Posted in: [...]
Tony
Perfect and to the point! Linux (actually any *nix) security has always been a bit of a dark art. There are documents (policies) that describe how to harden or minimize your attack footprint. Every IT organization needs to conform to some security policy. Examples are NIST 800-53, DISA Unix STIGs, Center for Internet Security, DCID 6/3, SANS LAMP and 20 Critical Security Controls and many more. As Doc mentioned, you shouldn’t need to understand the science in order to use it. Security should be easy—like turning a key or pushing a button—in order to use it.
Security Blanket by Trusted Computer Solutions strives to be that button. The product is feature rich and easy to use. There is a free trial and the development staff has built a how-to blog at http://tcs-security-blanket.blogspot.com/ The product is available for z series computing.