is open source more secure ?


 
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Old 07-04-2009
is open source more secure ?

Hi Guys,

I'd like to know your opinion. A friend of mine claims, an open source OS like linux is more secure than a closed one like AIX because 'if he is hacked, he can do countermeasures'.

I believe the opposite is the case - it's more secure if not everybody knows the kernel and is able to manipulate it.

What do you think? - and why

Kind regards
zxmaus
 
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_SECURE_PATH(3) 					   BSD Library Functions Manual 					   _SECURE_PATH(3)

NAME
_secure_path -- determine if a file appears to be secure LIBRARY
System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil) SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/types.h> #include <libutil.h> int _secure_path(const char *path, uid_t uid, gid_t gid); DESCRIPTION
This function does some basic security checking on a given path. It is intended to be used by processes running with root privileges in order to decide whether or not to trust the contents of a given file. It uses a method often used to detect system compromise. A file is considered 'secure' if it meets the following conditions: 1. The file exists, and is a regular file (not a symlink, device special or named pipe, etc.), 2. Is not world writable. 3. Is owned by the given uid or uid 0, if uid is not -1, 4. Is not group writable or it has group ownership by the given gid, if gid is not -1. RETURN VALUES
This function returns zero if the file exists and may be considered secure, -2 if the file does not exist, and -1 otherwise to indicate a security failure. The syslog(3) function is used to log any failure of this function, including the reason, at LOG_ERR priority. SEE ALSO
lstat(2), syslog(3) HISTORY
Code from which this function was derived was contributed to the FreeBSD project by Berkeley Software Design, Inc. BUGS
The checks carried out are rudimentary and no attempt is made to eliminate race conditions between use of this function and access to the file referenced. BSD
May 2, 1997 BSD