Tough week to the Web due to security issues (mostly Microsoft-imposed)

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.

It's been at least a week since the last bout of Microsoft FUD hit the wires, so I guess it was time for a new wave. Today's FUD comes from an article Microsoft released on how its security compares with that of Linux. It should come as no surprise that Windows comes off as the Second Coming while Linux is left on the wrong side of Acheron.

Ars Technica has an excellent series of articles about user security and why it's important for you to take security seriously, and why it's not just one of those "silly little things" that you leave for the geeks to worry about.

Linux® has been described as one of the most secure operating systems available, but the National Security Agency (NSA) has taken Linux to the next level with the introduction of Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). SELinux takes the existing GNU/Linux operating system and extends it with kernel and user-space modifications to make it bullet-proof.

Linux® has been described as one of the most secure operating systems available, but the National Security Agency (NSA) has taken Linux to the next level with the introduction of Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). SELinux takes the existing GNU/Linux operating system and extends it with kernel and user-space modifications to make it bullet-proof.

For open source and Linux, 2009 has been another year of big and surprising milestones, from the White House adopting open source technology to Microsoft submitting code for the Linux kernel."

There's no such thing as perfect security. There are no programs that give you absolute software security. After all, security is a process, not a product. Linux's security process, though, is outstanding, which is one reason why it has great security. Here's an example.

Microsoft invents a ‘fix’ for some bogus security bug and ‘Independent Security Evaluator’ heaps praise on Microsoft and talks up the ‘vulnerability’ in Mac OS X and GNU/Linux.