[iwar] [fc:World.Governments.Choosing.Linux.for.National.Security]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-12-11 13:53:39
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 13:53:39 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:World.Governments.Choosing.Linux.for.National.Security]
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World Governments Choosing Linux for National Security

Dec 03, 2001 -- NEW YORK -- For reasons of national security and national
pride, government officials in countries like China, France and Germany are
increasingly adopting the free, open-source computer operating system known
as Linux. 

In some cases, the software being replaced is produced by the Microsoft
Corp., which, users say, is more prone to viruses and hackers.

"A lot of countries feel uncomfortable having the fate of their computer
infrastructure in the hands of a large American software company," said Eric
Raymond of the Open Source Initiative, an advocacy group.

In China, the federal government is prodding its ministries toward homegrown
versions of Linux, which unlike Microsoft's operating system doesn't keep
secret its core instructions, or source code.

The Chinese information and science ministries are investing in a version
called Red Flag Linux "to pry the computer industry from the grip of
operating systems giants like Microsoft," the official People's Daily
newspaper reported last spring.

Security experts tend to agree that computers are less prone to hacking and
viruses when running open-source software like Linux or the Web server
Apache. When vulnerabilities are found, programmers can fix them by
tinkering with the code and publishing the results.

In France, the ministries of culture, defense and education have switched to
Linux for reasons of security and uniformity, dropping programs from
Microsoft, Sun and Lotus, a Public Works Ministry spokesman said.

Germany's minister for economy and technology, Margareta Wolf, has urged use
of Linux in "security relevant" computer servers and says the government --
currently overwhelmingly dependent on Microsoft -- is looking into ways to
convert other ministries.

Among the reasons Wolf cited was "protection from economic espionage."

"Security through obscurity is the motto of yesterday," Wolf said in July at
a Stuttgart tech conference. "The slogan of today is security through
transparency." 

Interior ministry spokesman Dirk Inger said Friday that the government is
keen to decrease its susceptibility to Microsoft-crippling viruses: "Our
desire is simply to use software products other than Microsoft's."

Another rallying point for Europeans is the fact that Linus Torvalds, the
programmer known as the father of Linux, is a native of Finland.

In China, as well, software is a matter of national pride.

The Chinese are keen to use their enormous market potential to boost Chinese
products rather than foreign ones, said Li Gong, Sun Microsystems' chief
representative in China.

"They don't want to build an economy entirely on Western technology," Gong
said. "To be a strong nation, they have to have intellectual property."

There are also unproven fears of so-called "back doors" in proprietary
operating systems like Microsoft's Windows. Some governments fear they could
be spied on by U.S. intelligence through a built-in secret channel.

Despite Microsoft's vigorous denials of their existence, the fear of "back
doors" is particularly acute in China, where the government worries that the
U.S. military could tap into and shut down its military command networks.

"What if the U.S. and China go to war?" Gong asked. "If these things get
pushed to extremes, they don't want to be dependent on a U.S. operating
system." 

In March, a report in the respected German news magazine Der Spiegel claimed
that country's defense ministry had banned Microsoft products because of an
alleged "back door."

The ministry later denied the claim.

Microsoft's director of security assurance Steve Lipner calls the back door
references a persistent and baseless rumor.

"The logic of that conspiracy theory is pretty strained," Lipner said.

The criticisms over security are tougher to dismiss.

Microsoft Web server software powers about 30 percent of the world's Web
sites -- and 62 percent of the sites that have been hacked, according to
data collected by two Internet sites, Netcraft's Web Server Survey and the
Alldas Defacement Archive.

Microsoft is also the prime target of virus writers. But that fact owes more
to Microsoft's dominance in PC software than any particular vulnerabilities,
said security consultant Chris Wysopal of (at)stake Inc.

Microsoft's Lipner said the company is now releasing "lockdown" tools to
deal with the problem and is also no longer leaving "entry port" settings
open by default on server software.

Even in the United States, where Microsoft dominates government computers,
agencies such as the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency
are experimenting with Linux.

IBM Corp. reports increasing sales of Linux systems to the federal
government, along with a recent sale to the Chinese postal service.

The NSA, the intelligence agency charged with eavesdropping and code
breaking, has even developed its own version, called Security-Enhanced
Linux, available for free on its Web site.

A contractor that helped the NSA with the Linux project said the agency had
"tried for years" to prod software companies to tighten holes in their
operating systems. 

Frustrated by the lack of success -- and concerned about the protection of
the country's computer infrastructure -- NSA decided to create its own, said
Tom Haigh, chief technical officer of San Jose, Calif.-based Secure
Computing Corp. 

"NSA feels it has a responsibility in that area," Haigh said. "They
understand better than anybody in the world the deficiencies of operating
systems." 

Jim Krane, The Associated Press

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