On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 16:07 -0800, Les wrote: > On Thu, 2007-01-18 at 23:55 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote: > > If you guys really want to continue this silly ass thread I can create a > > mailing list for your enjoyment. > > > > Let me know, and I can create a list for all of you and subscribe all of you > > and you can continue this endless exchange. > > > Hi, Ed, > This is indeed an endless exchange, but a valuable one at that. For > example a quote from the NSA paper that Dr. Smalley was a part of: > > By arguing that secure operating systems are indispensable to system > security, the authors hope to spawn a renewed interest in operating > system security. If security practitioners were to more openly > acknowledge their security solution’s operating system dependencies and > state these dependencies as requirements for future operating systems, > then the increased demand for secure operating systems would lead to new > research and development in the area and ultimately to commercially > viable secure systems. In turn, the availability of secure operating > systems would enable security practitioners to concentrate on security > services that belong in their particular components rather than dooming > them to try to address the total security problem with no hope of > success. (http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/papers/inevitability/) > > Gives us a view that this topic must continue to be given air time. It > is vital to users and customers of users of computing architectures, not > just Linux, but all operating systems. > > I hope that our discussion, while sometimes vitrolic and often arcane, > brings all of you to thinking about the issues of data and system > protection. It is vital to the network that "no system" not a server, > nor a user workstation, be unprotected from malicious use. Moreover, it > is important that mechanisms exist to report violations of that security > to parties that will endeavor to close the holes that permitted that > violation to occur, and to parties that will seek out and punish those > that violated that security world wide. > > Regards, > Les H > > > > Personally I would like to see this discussion continue as when it started I had a vague idea of what SElinux was. Now I know a lot more and have even done a little googling about it. One thing that does confuse me though, is If m$ has been getting advice from the NSA about secure operating systems since 98 or so why is windows security so bad ;-). Also when I find I don't have the time to follow a topic I can always stop reading it and concentrate my time on the other topics.I don't have to go off in a huff, and if it gets too intrusive I just create a filter that dumps the offending topic into the waste bin. Hows that for freedom of choice? -- Registered Linux user number 414240 Guy Fawkes the only person to enter the Parliament with honest intentions and he was going to blow them up