Ubuntu more secure than Leopard, Windows Vista?

Submit

Ubuntu Linux was the only system left unscathed in a multi-platform hacking competition last week, but does that mean it is more secure?

Apple's Leopard OS lasted 30 second, Windows Vista Ultimate lasted until the third day, but Ubuntu's Linux distribution alone was left secure at the end of the "Pwn to Own contest" at CanSecWest security conference held in Vancouver.

James Turner, a security analyst from IBRS said that "in this particular instance, which supports the conclusion that Ubuntu is more secure." However, he said the result is unlikely to cause an increased uptake of Linux amongst business users.

"Most people who are advocating Linux do it to improve their own skill set rather than actively support the business. That creates a problem for CIOs who are there to support the business," said Turner who pointed out that support also remained a major issue for CIOs when considering a Linux implementation.

Jeff Waugh, from Waugh Partners, an Australian open source consulting firm, commented that this result should not be seen as a guarantee that Ubuntu based systems are more secure.

"Certainly one of the exploits [the Flash exploit], would have allowed entry into the Linux system as well," said Waugh, who added that the lower penetration of Linux-based systems gave such systems a security advantage.

"There are not a lot of people focusing on [Ubuntu], because it's not a high profile system. The kind of people participating in this event ... would want the crowning glory from finding something tasty in Windows or Mac OS X," Waugh said. Waugh said that this also highlighted that the OS is not the principal security weakness in a desktop.

"The kind of attack vectors that can be used now are much more effective at the client side on a mass scale, both vectors were client software that connected to the Web. The Web browser is absolutely the most exposed part of any system now." However for Waugh, this was still a win for open source systems.

"It is telling that the folks involved didn't sit down and read the source code and go after something in there ... sure that is evidence enough [against the idea] that if you open your source code you are showing your family jewels to the world."

The competition ran from 26 to 28 March and offered contestants a chance to win the latest Fujistu, Sony and Apple laptops — providing they were able to find a way to access a file on the machines. The laptops on offer included a MacBook Air running OSX 10.5.2, a Fujitsu U810 running Vista Ultimate SP1, and a Sony VAIO running Ubuntu 7.10.

Talkback

Quick Poll

What is the biggest data management challenge in your organisation?

Inconsistent data and overlapping sources
Rising management and maintenance costs
Scaling the database to meet business needs
Handling analysis of streaming data
Complexity in data security auditing and reporting databases
Inability to keep up with growth in requirements

ZDNet Australia Live

The end of an era as Kodak discontinues camera business http://t.co/dl7yyd7t

3 minutes ago by dmbieg on twitter, retweet

Optus attacked over council cable costs: Sutherland Shire Council is locked in a stalemate with Optus over the $... http://t.co/3kpAuwwD

8 minutes ago by oztechguy on twitter, retweet

Optus attacked over council cable costs: Sutherland Shire Council is locked in a stalemate with Optus over the $... http://t.co/Xv4IwDP9

8 minutes ago by NewsinIT on twitter, retweet

Do more lax Australian #privacy laws hurt international business? http://t.co/Uo2t14TP #law

13 minutes ago by RitchiePo on twitter, retweet

In only 3 months. Yowsers! (And I am one of them) RT @zdnetaustralia: Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/r1CArZg6 #vodafail

13 minutes ago by CaitlinSyrett on twitter, retweet

"BUT WE'RE SPENDING A BILLION DOLLARS TO BUILD A NEW NETWORK" RT @zdnetaustralia @Vodafone_au sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/zbF32yQh

13 minutes ago by GeordieGuy on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/hkaD9EeK

13 minutes ago by jwinoto on twitter, retweet

Sutherland Shire Council is locked in a stalemate with Optus over the $110,000 cost of a cable replacement http://t.co/zxYTZaJj

18 minutes ago by zdnetaustralia on twitter, retweet

Won't that improve the service? RT @zdnetaustralia: Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/cZtRLzPJ

23 minutes ago by ABCtech on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/hkaD9EeK

23 minutes ago by ACCAN_AU on twitter, retweet

by http://t.co/vmlQ0Ecb: Optus attacked over council cable costs: Sutherland Shire Council is locked in a stalema... http://t.co/CIwHzp5S

28 minutes ago by InternetTechSec on twitter, retweet

Surely Vodafone knew this would happen... the customers certainly did! I jumped ship as soon as I could. http://t.co/ehCrfX2T

28 minutes ago by kristoforlawson on twitter, retweet

It's pretty funny that a local council would think a verbal agreement with Optus was sufficient. http://t.co/Nasa1I9t

28 minutes ago by joshgnosis on twitter, retweet

Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/hkaD9EeK

28 minutes ago by zdnetaustralia on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Vodafone sheds 30K more customers: http://t.co/hkaD9EeK

28 minutes ago by davidkl_ on twitter, retweet

RT @CTAspley: Apple set to announce the iPad 3 in early March http://t.co/yTZVTkE3

43 minutes ago by sal_star1 on twitter, retweet

Ethical iPhone protests hit Apple stores: http://t.co/MjtFB4r7

43 minutes ago by zdnetaustralia on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Ethical iPhone protests hit Apple stores: http://t.co/MjtFB4r7

43 minutes ago by miguelcarreteb on twitter, retweet

zvelo is in the news - PC Mag http://t.co/Tg5LCQF1 PC World http://t.co/vj9siTzR ZDNet http://t.co/jkeQ8NOt c|net http://t.co/eAM1Z9nX

47 minutes ago by acarrillojr on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Kodak discontinues camera business http://t.co/jqKWDFO7 < my very first camera was a Kodak instamatic

48 minutes ago by CollabTech on twitter, retweet

Apple set to announce the iPad 3 in early March http://t.co/yTZVTkE3

48 minutes ago by CTAspley on twitter, retweet

Interpol defends voluntary filter: ZDNet Australia http://t.co/ovXm1UHb (Badly, really.)

53 minutes ago by CollinVanUden on twitter, retweet

Aussie activists call for "ethical iPhone": Activists today gathered at the Apple Store in Sydney's CBD to deliv... http://t.co/KgfQQWdu

1 hour ago by NewsinIT on twitter, retweet

Aussie activists call for "ethical iPhone": Activists today gathered at the Apple Store in Sydney's CBD to deliv... http://t.co/zbKQLRhX

1 hour ago by oztechguy on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Why a $25 computer means revolution http://t.co/ufWQdLzT

1 hour ago by Scotty_Coleman on twitter, retweet

RT @zdnetaustralia: Google is reportedly getting ready to take on Dropbox with its own cloud-based storage service http://t.co/qEoMRSk4

1 hour ago by Scotty_Coleman on twitter, retweet

Why a $25 computer means revolution: And just as the electronics have shrunk, so has the price — opening up the ... http://t.co/kdvMBPEm

1 hour ago by michroberts84 on twitter, retweet

buy convert dvd to asf to your friends

1 hour ago by chatheli on 700MHz auction: The death knell for Aussie 4G?

Good article and some good comments guys. The lazy, monopolistic bullies that are bleating about this (TA, AFL, NRL, CA etc) need a reali...

1 hour ago by Progressive on More TV Now may mean less TV later

Lax data privacy laws hurt Australia: Australia may be setting a bad example and limiting its ... http://t.co/0OTpy0W7 #Data #Protection

1 hour ago by externaldpo on twitter, retweet

The Raseberry has a great role in automating heating and cooling systems, and in process control. Just get a few termisters along with an...

1 hour ago by lsatenstein on Why a $25 computer means revolution

Ethical iPhone protests hit Apple stores http://t.co/Tg87lxA1

1 hour ago by iPhone_Cable on twitter, retweet

Why a $25 computer means revolution http://t.co/KoA6Mfnu

1 hour ago by News_XBOX on twitter, retweet

HRM/HCM is heating up with Oracle buying Teleo. Where's MSFT in all this?http://t.co/urUaTHc5

1 hour ago by philipri on twitter, retweet

Lax data #privacy laws hurt Australia: Australia may be setting a bad example and limiting its options when it c... http://t.co/18CvSbms

1 hour ago by archiereed on twitter, retweet

Lax data #privacy laws hurt Australia: Australia may be setting a bad example and limiting its options when it c... http://t.co/35xWEgB2

1 hour ago by concisecloud on twitter, retweet

News: Malware's the next nuclear bomb: Kaspersky - Security - News - ZDNet Australia http://t.co/MqfyXzJS

1 hour ago by christiaan008 on twitter, retweet

Lax data privacy laws hurt Australia - Australia may be setting a bad example and limiting its options when it comes... http://t.co/F7HQTvVy

1 hour ago by pcrepairs_au on twitter, retweet

invention these appreciate Every using after Numerous Not well ordering customer any custom route do make these current can consider of N...

3 hours ago by gurbapagnonna on Abetz shifted in reshuffle

I'd say a reasonable amount of it would be. In the Queensland Department of Education's case, it said it was trying to make as much of it...

3 hours ago by suzanne.tindal on The application nation

Great article, Suzanne—couldn’t agree more. It is only logical for organisations – private or public-- to take a long, hard look �...

4 hours ago by kashe on The application nation

Every example of action against child molesters in this story related to internet protocols other than the www. This filter then achieves...

4 hours ago by Bob.H on Interpol defends voluntary filter

Soooo... it's okay for Apple to demand use of technologies and designs falling under competitors patents (considered "standards"), but on...

13 hours ago by MoWeb on Apple wants new rules for mobile patents

But I am having an intelligent conversation young fibes, my point is the lofty goal that all are equal is unfortunately not so. That is w...

14 hours ago by Doubt on NBN Co inks $620m satellite deal

May be so, but we do need to lighten up some of these people who are so serious. poor old fibretech nearly brings tears to the eyes and j...

15 hours ago by Doubt on Turnbull decries 'Rolls-Royce' satellites

The latest MS Windows update for XP tries hard to persuade you to update. For those machines that already have IE8 loaded it tries to re-...

15 hours ago by brak on Windows XP clings on as dominant OS

Will be interesting to see if he drives the qld gov political IT agenda or looks to address the IT challenges being faced by qld gov agen...

15 hours ago by Flly on Queensland's CIO returns to the post

So angry! NOKIA has forgotten the main purpose and the user function, and instead prioritised their industry level concerns. I bought my...

16 hours ago by spaceagesoup on Nokia skips Australia in Symbian Belle roll-out

I get what you mean in your context, meski. If the filter is like speed cameras, then people can alternately take side streets and back r...

18 hours ago by techkid on Interpol defends voluntary filter

Remind me again how people can get to a leadership position with absolutely no practical knowledge? I would ask Alexander how he intends...

18 hours ago by cleversoap on Internet won't always be anonymous: ITU

I was reading about DMARC at http://www.unlocktheinbox.com/resources/dmarc.aspx, perhaps they should try to implement something like this...

19 hours ago by wpfn on Phishing scam causes Telstra email woe

As you can tell, I'm a big follower. For AFL read NRL.

19 hours ago by phildobbie on The TV Now aftermath

Im not sure if David Gallop realises he now works for the AFL.

20 hours ago by katerich on The TV Now aftermath

That assumes that people see the stop sign. If you're using proxies, or whatever *all* the time, then these stop signs will never be obs...

21 hours ago by meski on Interpol defends voluntary filter

The advanced remote controlled machines reduce the human working rate from hazardous environment.

21 hours ago by Manasy on Robotic mining worth its high cost: Rio

This story has been voted 20 times in the last 24 hours!

2 days ago, Symantec confirms hacker extortion

This story has been voted 10 times in the last 24 hours!

2 days ago, Symantec confirms hacker extortion

Keep up with ZDNet Australia

Inside ZDNet Australia

ZDNet / Ubuntu / Story

Ubuntu more secure than Leopard, Windows Vista?

Topics

Top related stories

Related gallery

Related video

Related stories

Talkback

Resource Centre Useful content from our premier sponsors

Quick Poll

ZDNet Australia Live

Facebook Activity

Keep up with ZDNet Australia

ZDNet Events Calendar

Plan Comparison

Sponsored resources

Inside ZDNet Australia

Services