On Thu, 2002-11-28 at 11:08, David Ellis wrote: > At the risk of being terribly unpopular I thought I'd share my personal > experience. > > For 6 months I was running a Windows NT 4.0 based web, ftp and email server > (exchange 5.5) with the latest service packs (SP 6a+), and a weekly "Windows > Update". These machines for their lifetime were completely unhacked. My > email server wasn't an open relay, all was right with the world :). > > 4 months ago I switched to Redhat 7.2 - patched weekly with the Redhat > network. This infrastructure was hacked repeatedly, my email server was an > open relay, my ftp server was being brought down every other day, my web > server had the apache service brought down repeatedly, I was rebuilding my > boxes every three days. In short it was HELL. > > I switched to Debian Woody about three weeks ago, installing the bsd based > ftp server (not that leaky wu-ftpd), the latest apache, exim, and cyrus. So > far so good - no hacks, reject log shows the bounced relay requests, and the > web service has been solid (although a browse through the logs shows the > buffer and cgi attacks being tried). > > In short the article is almost right: > - Older Linux Distributions ARE vulnerable, the patches to fix > vulnerabilities on the older releases almost never work right (IMO), and > this is a problem.
I'd say, rather, that RPM doesn't have a "configure" mechanism like dpkg/deb does, and that the RH72 /etc config-file *defaults* suck. A knowledgeable Unix SysAdmin *can* make RH72 very secure. > - Older Windows Releases ARE vulnerable, but the patches to fix the > vulnerabilities DO work. > - Linux is maturing, and personally I like the choice and flexibility it > provides. Particularly with older equipment. > > Despite the almost troll like language and bias, the authors facts are > correct. It's his conclusion that is wrong. > > My off topic two cents. [snip] -- +------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ron Johnson, Jr. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Jefferson, LA USA http://members.cox.net/ron.l.johnson | | | | "they love our milk and honey, but preach about another | | way of living" | | Merle Haggard, "The Fighting Side Of Me" | +------------------------------------------------------------+ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
