[Wolves] Nsa using linux

[Peter Cannon]

On Friday 25 August 2006 13:34, Shane M. Coughlan wrote:

> Simplicity is not the end goal of security.

You don't say, but we are talking from two different stand points. Security 
should be simple to set up for the 'End User' it should not be 'Simple' so 
that malicious attacks cant get through.

My bone of contention is that to control your system you should be able to 
configure it! even if its a simple yes/no click environment a good security 
system should not be judged by the complexity variables but by its 
performance.

> In certain environments it 
> is impossible to accomplish a simple button to make the security problem
> go away.  An example are those environments that have multiple possible
> configurations (like web server access) and require the user to decide
> how things will work.

Yes I agree with you on that one but now we are in a production/business 
environment where the needs are very differnet, although are they?

> No.  The NSA made SELinux at great cost but released it freely.  Some
> aspects were covered by patents (from commercial technology included)
> but the system is public domain.

Thats as maybe however again, we are not understanding each other, I don't 
care a fig what is or is not "Given Away" what I care about is having to 
bring in an outsider, at a cost, to configure my systems. 

My favourite memory is when I was a young lad 287 years ago (Pre home PC's) 
and a teacher telling me "In the future computers will do almost everything 
the main worry we will have is what to do with all the spare time on our 
hands!"

I'd like to go and dig him up (He must be dead now) and say "No need to worry 
we'll all be spending hours and hours and hours on Google trying to find out 
how to my things work on our Linux box" :P

-- 
Regards
Peter Cannon
"There is every excuse for not knowing
there is no excuse for not asking"