Open Source Can Help to Ease Fear Over Security

According to an article in MSSP Alert, U.S. cyber defenses may not be able to withstand a withering security attack aimed at government and critical infrastructure targets.

It cites a survey of 600 security experts released in a report titled, “Portrait of an Imminent Cyber Threat.” Experts believe within the next two years, hackers are likely to go after government agencies and vital industries such as utilities, health care facilities and financial services.

WikiLeaks is having an impact on the security community. A majority of security pros believe WikiLeaks’ release of stolen documents has diminished the community’s trust in the ability of the United States to defend itself.

Another consequence of WikiLeaks' recent releases has been to expose tools and techniques used by U.S. Intelligence Agencies to exploit Windows and Windows Server security holes. Hackers now have used those same tools to wreak havoc around security at the server, network/LAN, gateway, storage, and endpoint levels.

Linus Torvalds famously said, “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”

One of the benefits of Open Source software is that there are thousands of engaged developers constantly finding and fixing security-related bugs working inside of a culture based on transparency and cooperation.

The survey also uncovered that 70 percent of security experts said they lack staffing to meet the threat of a major security breach in the next 12 months, and 60 percent believe they don’t have enough money to counter the offenses.

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