I do not get paid to write about, or for, InformationWeek magazine. They just happen to have great articles which warrant comment on my part. However, if they have an affiliate program, I would be very interested!
Today’s InformationWeek Daily, their email newsletter, talked about one misconception surrounding Open Source software. The article, Warning: Bad Men In Black Hats! addresses the idea that Open Source is more vulnerable to attack than closed source/proprietary software because anyone can look at the code of the application.
- With open source, everyone can see the code. Therefore anyone can use it maliciously to hack you.
- With proprietary software, very few people can see the code. Therefore the number of people who can use it maliciously to hack you is that much smaller.
- Wrong!
I won’t steal the whole article from their site, and you should subscribe to the great newsletter.
The main point is bag guys are going to get source code for proprietary software if they want it bad enough. Just like a burglar is going to get into your house if they really want to. Security is essentially just steps to make access more difficult for a malicious person.
Security is not something you can apply from the top down but something that has to be baked into what you’re doing from the bottom up (or inside out, as it were).
If you are interested in Home Security, check out my post about Arming My Home.
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