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NW on Linux <Linux@bdcimail.com> on 04/16/2001 06:20:01 PM
Please respond to Linux Help <NWReplies@bellevue.com>
To:	vkamins@enron.com
cc:	 
Subject:	Super-secret Linux


NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: PHIL HOCHMUTH
on LINUX
04/16/01 - Today's focus: Super-secret Linux

Dear Wincenty Kaminski,

In this issue:

* National Security Agency is bulletproofing the operating system
* Links related to Linux
* Featured reader resource
* CAREER CORNER: Mission-critical opportunities with marketplace
                 winners

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If a friend has forwarded this newsletter to you, why not sign-up
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Today's focus: Super-secret Linux

By Phil Hochmuth

Network Associates is teaming up with the National Security Agency,
the government's top electronic cryptography and spying institution,
to help the agency fine-tune its highly secure version of Linux. The
goal is to create a version of Linux that is impervious to outside
attacks.

Security Enhanced Linux, or SELinux, is a project under development
by the NSA to create a version of the operating system that is more
secure than the commercial distributions of Linux available from
software vendors and the open-source community. The PGP Security
division of Network Associates is working with the NSA to modify the
Linux source code so that applications running on a Linux server or
PC have reduced access to a Linux machine's underlying operating
system. The aim is to give Linux servers the ability to shirk off
"buffer overrun" and "format string" attacks, which take advantage of
loose ends in Linux applications to access a server's core operating
system and shut it down. A Linux worm dubbed "Lion" was recently
identified as using this method to hack Linux servers.

NSA has worked with other software firms to shore up other weaknesses
in the operating system. Secure Computing has worked on the SELinux
project to add its Type Enforcement technology to SELinux. Type
Enforcement protects the operating system and applications by
segmenting them into security "domains" with specifications on what
types of files can be accessed by each domain. (For example, this
could be used to prevent access to a configuration file through an
application, such as Apache Web server). NSA is also working with
VMWare to come up with a more secure user permissions system for
allowing users with different security access to work on the same
server.

The good news for Linux users who are not high-level NSA operatives
is that SELinux will be released to the open-source community once
finished. This means that commercial Linux vendors could include
SELinux security enhancements in future releases, resulting in more
bulletproof Linux Web and database servers in enterprises.

_______________________________________________________________
To contact Phil Hochmuth:

Phil Hochmuth is a staff writer for Network World, and
a former systems integrator. You can reach him at
mailto:phochmut@nww.com.
_______________________________________________________________
RELATED LINKS

Get the source code for SELinux
http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/src-disclaim.html

Check out a site with Linux security tools and tips
http://www.linuxsecurity.com

PGP working with NSA on Linux security prototype  -  Network World,
04/16/01
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2001/0416apps.html

Breaking Linux news from Network World and around the 'Net,
updated daily: http://www.nwfusion.com/topics/linux.html

Archive of the Linux newsletter:
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/linux/index.html
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

Buyer's Guides

Researching for a purchase? Check out Network World Fusion's
Buyer's Guides. Whether you're researching VPN products or SAN
switches or wireless LAN gear, these guides provide reviews and
compare vendors head to head. See the list of guides at:
http://www.nwfusion.com/research/bg.html
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Copyright Network World, Inc., 2001

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