Re: The state of linux security

[Alan Cox]

> the relative security of linux and the likely hood that smart people
> are able to cause a bit of mindless vandalism or get up to much worse.

Distributions assign CVE numbers to kernel vulnerabilities. As
distributions like Fedora ship current kernels they provide a pretty
complete summary.

> One more thing I'd like to throw out there on the issue of
> accountability is this:  How do I know that some developers have not
> been paid to specifically introduce some obscure security flaw? 

Wrong question. Thats a very naÃve basis for thinking about security. Why
should end users care whether a flaw was added deliberately or by
mistake. What matters is that the flaw is identified. A passive attacker
observing a flaw and using it is at least as dangerous if not more so
than an active attacker.

Alan
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