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Linux - Security Issues?

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By Guest
in Linux, macOS and Everything Not-Windows
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Posted

Are you asking out of curiosity or out of paranoia?

 

 Mint itself wasn't compromised, their website was. They uploaded a hacked version of the ISO onto the website, and they compromised their forums, but the OS itself is still secure. I can't say for certain whether other distros have had any actual security issues, but I know that Linux in general is very secure because A) nobody very few people writes viruses for Linux. Not enough people use it for it to be worth a hacker's time, and B) any security holes can be easily patched and distributed before any real harm can be done.

 

 

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Posted
3 hours ago, steezemageeze said:

Are you asking out of curiosity or out of paranoia?

 

 Mint itself wasn't compromised, their website was. They uploaded a hacked version of the ISO onto the website, and they compromised their forums, but the OS itself is still secure. I can't say for certain whether other distros have had any actual security issues, but I know that Linux in general is very secure because A) nobody very few people writes viruses for Linux. Not enough people use it for it to be worth a hacker's time, and B) any security holes can be easily patched and distributed before any real harm can be done.

 

 

I'm just not comfortable with Linux distributions that have security issues. 

 

No. They pointed the download link to a different server which held the hacked version of the ISO. Basically an unofficial version. 

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Posted
10 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

I'm just not comfortable with Linux distributions that have security issues.

As steezemageeze

 said, it wasn't the OS that was compromised, it was the server. The server wasn't run on Mint and even then it almost certainly wasn't the OS that got compromised there.

If you're paranoid, use Qubes if your software can handle it or just get Mint and look into Apparmor configuration for more than just the standard utilities.

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Posted
1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

link to site?

https://www.debian.org/ 

 

Id read the documentation. I was actually checking it out myself. I want to use Steam, but I dont like the Unity Interface of Ubuntu. So I was checking if Steam works in Debian. It does with some work. Steam OS is based of Debian actually. 

I just want to sit back and watch the world burn. 

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Posted
3 hours ago, Donut417 said:

https://www.debian.org/ 

 

Id read the documentation. I was actually checking it out myself. I want to use Steam, but I dont like the Unity Interface of Ubuntu. So I was checking if Steam works in Debian. It does with some work. Steam OS is based of Debian actually. 

Thanks! 

 

-removed-

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29 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

If you want security I heard Debian is your OS. Also heard its a btich to install and use. 

Its really not, many linux distros spring from it. Typical gui install and built up more than arch just more raw than mint. 

I would think kali or tails or whonix or perhaps arch (depending on how much work you did) would be better for security unless you took debian and built your own set of security on top. 

 

The only OS with security issues i've heard about recently was ubuntu, which was privacy not really security. I believe that was resolved though its rep is forever ruined. (ubuntu is the child of debian and the mother of most mints). As mentioned though, its was the site, which could happen to an OS and we wouldn't know til afterwards. You can still use mint, just grap a fresh copy or an older one if you have if you downloaded the iso during the time of the hack.  

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Posted

The deal with Linux is most often you can take a distro and with work, time and effort you can build a really secure suit of software. However, that software will still run and execute code, and that code can be exploited just like Windows, BSD and Mac OSX code, they all can be exploited. So your question shouldn't be "Are there any security issues with Linux?", it should be "Are there any security issues with software?" and the answer to that question is... YES!

 

 

Ok, off my high horse there. You want security with Linux, read up on iptabes (the built-in Linux firewall), using VPN's, TOR, how to patch your software, keep up to date on your software and safe internet browsing habits. Follow bug report and securing your LAN. Those tips will help protect your system, but if I were to recommend a distro for new or security minded, then personally I would run Debian or Open SUSE, simply because they are easy to maintain and have a ton of documentation in regards to everything.

 

And you can always run TAILS if your a special kinda on paranoid... xD

 

 

Cheers!

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Posted

I think what most people forget is that it comes down to market share. Microsoft has an 89% market share last I saw. Thats on Desktop OS, They have a 33% in Server OS. Because of that 89% market share they have a bad rep when it comes to security. Linux has like a 5% market share or something to that degree. Most hackers and Malware writers dont give a shit about Linux because its market share is too low. They know they can do more damage on Windows. 

 

BUT

 

To me security starts with the user. You use a good firewall and Anti virus. You use safe web browsing practices and you should be good. ANY OS can get hacked, dont forget that. As long as you do things right as a user, you generally dont have anything to worry about. 

I just want to sit back and watch the world burn. 

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Posted
On 14/08/2016 at 1:55 AM, Donut417 said:

I think what most people forget is that it comes down to market share. Microsoft has an 89% market share last I saw. Thats on Desktop OS, They have a 33% in Server OS. Because of that 89% market share they have a bad rep when it comes to security. Linux has like a 5% market share or something to that degree. Most hackers and Malware writers dont give a shit about Linux because its market share is too low. They know they can do more damage on Windows. 

 

BUT

 

To me security starts with the user. You use a good firewall and Anti virus. You use safe web browsing practices and you should be good. ANY OS can get hacked, dont forget that. As long as you do things right as a user, you generally dont have anything to worry about. 

Well I mean the question is, which OS is more secure than the other/others. I mean for example, Microsoft just leaked their f******** backboor key "by mistake" which goes on from there... 

 

There are several factors involved. 

 

On 14/08/2016 at 1:50 AM, Heller64bit said:

The deal with Linux is most often you can take a distro and with work, time and effort you can build a really secure suit of software. However, that software will still run and execute code, and that code can be exploited just like Windows, BSD and Mac OSX code, they all can be exploited. So your question shouldn't be "Are there any security issues with Linux?", it should be "Are there any security issues with software?" and the answer to that question is... YES!

 

 

Ok, off my high horse there. You want security with Linux, read up on iptabes (the built-in Linux firewall), using VPN's, TOR, how to patch your software, keep up to date on your software and safe internet browsing habits. Follow bug report and securing your LAN. Those tips will help protect your system, but if I were to recommend a distro for new or security minded, then personally I would run Debian or Open SUSE, simply because they are easy to maintain and have a ton of documentation in regards to everything.

 

And you can always run TAILS if your a special kinda on paranoid... xD

 

 

Cheers!

How about Fedora, Arch, or Kali? 

 

Thanks for your response by the way

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Posted
4 hours ago, Donut417 said:

I think what most people forget is that it comes down to market share. Microsoft has an 89% market share last I saw. Thats on Desktop OS, They have a 33% in Server OS. Because of that 89% market share they have a bad rep when it comes to security. Linux has like a 5% market share or something to that degree. Most hackers and Malware writers dont give a shit about Linux because its market share is too low. They know they can do more damage on Windows. 

 

BUT

 

To me security starts with the user. You use a good firewall and Anti virus. You use safe web browsing practices and you should be good. ANY OS can get hacked, dont forget that. As long as you do things right as a user, you generally dont have anything to worry about. 

It's not only because of the market share. Microsoft has had TERRIBLE security in their OSes since forever. It's gotten better recently, but they have been a nightmare to maintain, historically.

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1 hour ago, Pinguinsan said:

Microsoft has had TERRIBLE security in their OSes since forever.

Starting with Vista, the Windows kernel's exploit mitigation techniques outnumber those of most other operating systems, excluding OpenBSD. You might (or might not) have a look at EMET. Please stop spreading FUD.

Write in C.

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8 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

Starting with Vista, the Windows kernel's exploit mitigation techniques outnumber those of most other operating systems, excluding OpenBSD. You might (or might not) have a look at EMET. Please stop spreading FUD.

I don't even know how to respond to that. That's actually hilarious.

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Posted

Every OS on the planet has, is, and will be exposed to security issues.  They will just be more likely to be found and patched on open source platforms like Linux.  And if your concerned about OS's having security issues and not using them, then forget linux, they just recently found a security issue in Linux's open source TCP stack - See here.

"There is probably a special circle of Hell reserved for people who force software into a role it was never designed for."
- Radium_Angel

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