With threats like Conficker fresh in the public's mind, security remains a top concern for Windows users. Panda Security, publishers of Panda Internet Security and Panda Antivirus, is set to take antivirus where it hasn't been yet: into the clouds. Panda Cloud Antivirus beta bets that nearly three years of development can pay off into a better protection system for users.

One of the areas where Linux really shines is security: you do not really need an antivirus if you are running Linux as an end user. In the Windows world however a good antivirus is almost a requirement as viruses and malwares are commonplace. I have personally seen Windows computers being infected less than an hour after being connected to the internet.

Many users of open source software point to the fact that their applications and platforms are more secure than proprietary alternatives simply because they aren't such obvious targets for malware distribution. As just one example, the Standish Group recently completed a survey in which 70 percent of respondents said Red Hat Linux is less vulnerable to security threats than Windows.

There are many new interesting alternative operating systems: Syllable, Haiku etc. They may promise speed, low system requirements and many good and promising features. But what about security? Is it discussed enough?

On the age of Internet can we even imagine a desktop operating system without a network connection? With networking comes the need for security.

Ardour and JACK developer Paul Davis looked at audio from mostly the professional audio perspective, while PulseAudio developer Lennart Poettering, unsurprisingly, discussed desktop audio.

Sound in Wine has been a big issue. From a user’s perspective, it didn’t work well. From a technical user’s perspective, there were 3 different drivers to choose from and none of them worked well. From a developer’s perspective, no sound driver would ever work well.

Given all the fuss in the news recently about compromised Linux/Apache servers being responsible for infecting Windows users with malware when they visit those compromised sites, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at three of the best rootkit/malware detection tools available for Linux desktop and SOHO users.

If you’ve switched to Ubuntu from Windows, there’s a very good chance that the security failings of Windows featured in your decision. By any measure, Microsoft’s record on security within its products is appalling.

The key to IT security is secure software - software that is written with not only features, but also security, in mind, says David Jacobson, technical director at Linux services company Synaq.