The Crowdstrike / Windows 10 worldwide crash of last week has again shown the impact that big software failures have on society in general and the economy in specific. As an advocate of free and open source software, we would like to explain to you why it's less likely that these kinds of incidents happen with #foss software. In the title, we focus on Windows/Mac OSX vs Linux, but we can extrapolate and look at foss vs proprietary in general.
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is not inherently more secure than proprietary software. However, FOSS has some characteristics that can contribute to its security advantages:
- Transparency: FOSS codebases are publicly available, allowing anyone to review the source code, identify vulnerabilities, and submit patches or fixes. This transparency helps ensure that any issues are quickly discovered and addressed.
- Community involvement: The open nature of FOSS encourages collaboration among developers from diverse backgrounds and expertise levels. This collective effort can lead to more thorough testing, bug fixing, and security auditing than proprietary software might receive.
- Peer review: With many eyes on the code, vulnerabilities are more likely to be detected and reported by multiple individuals or teams, rather than relying solely on a single developer or organization.
- Security audits: FOSS projects often undergo regular security audits, which can help identify potential issues before they become major problems.
- Faster patching: When a vulnerability is discovered in an open-source project, the community can quickly develop and deploy patches to fix the issue. This rapid response time helps minimize the attack surface and reduces the risk of exploitation.
- Less reliance on single points of failure: FOSS projects often have multiple maintainers or contributors working on different aspects of the codebase. If one contributor makes a mistake, others can review and correct it before it becomes a significant issue.
- Regular updates and maintenance: Many open-source projects receive regular updates, bug fixes, and security patches from their communities, which helps keep them secure over time.
That being said, FOSS is not immune to vulnerabilities or security issues. In fact, some high-profile open-source vulnerabilities have been exploited in the past (e.g., Heartbleed in OpenSSL). However, these incidents often prompt swift responses from the community and lead to improved security practices.
In contrast, proprietary software may be more susceptible to:
- Single point of failure: If a single developer or organization is responsible for maintaining the codebase, there's a higher risk that vulnerabilities will go undetected or unaddressed.
- Limited transparency: Proprietary software often has limited access to its source code, making it harder for security researchers and developers to identify potential issues.
- Slower patching: When a vulnerability is discovered in proprietary software, the process of developing and deploying patches can be slower due to internal review processes or commercial considerations.
It's essential to note that both FOSS and proprietary software can have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to security. Ultimately, the level of security depends on various factors, including:
- The quality of development practices
- The effectiveness of testing and auditing procedures
- The responsiveness of maintainers or developers in addressing vulnerabilities
In conclusion, while FOSS has some inherent advantages that can contribute to its security, it's not a guarantee against all security issues. Both FOSS and proprietary software require ongoing maintenance, updates, and vigilance to ensure the highest level of security for users.