Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    DHS Backs Open-Source Security

    By
    Ryan Naraine
    -
    January 16, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The Department of Homeland Security plans to spend $1.24 million over three years to fund an ambitious software auditing project aimed at beefing up the security and reliability of several widely deployed open-source products.

      The grant, called the Vulnerability Discovery and Remediation, Open Source Hardening Project, is part of a broad federal initiative to perform daily security audits of approximately 40 open-source applications, including Linux, Apache, MySQL and Sendmail.

      The idea is to use source code analysis technology from San Francisco-based Coverity Inc. to pinpoint and correct security vulnerabilities and other potentially dangerous defects in key open-source packages.

      Software engineers at Stanford University will manage the project and maintain a publicly available database of bugs and defects. Anti-virus vendor Symantec Corp. is providing guidance to help understand where security gaps might be in certain open-source projects.

      “The government is now doing what private companies have been doing to make sure the software packages are secure and reliable for widespread deployment,” said Rob Rachwald, senior director of marketing at Coverity.

      In an interview with eWEEK, Rachwald said Stanford professor Dawson Engler will manage the code analysis, which involves an automated process of poring over millions of lines of code to find potential problems.

      “Four years ago, Linux had 2 million lines of code. Today, thats up to 6 million lines of code. There are 75,000 different functions within the Linux kernel. Theres no way you can realistically go through that without having it automated in some way,” Rachwald said.

      Under the DHS-sponsored project, “well be testing 100 percent of your code base, going through each and every function to understand how those functions are related,” Rachwald said.

      The scans will pinpoint buffer overflows, memory allocation bugs and other vulnerabilities that are constant targets for malicious attacks. Rachwald said the audit will also pinpoint hidden security errors that compromise security without warning.

      In addition to Linux, Apache, MySQL and Sendmail, the project will pore over the code bases for FreeBSD, Mozilla, PostgreSQL and the GTK (GIMP Tool Kit) library.

      According to a recent study by The Mitre Corp., there are more than 230 open-source software packages already in use for critical operations within the federal government.

      The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Teams 2005 year-end vulnerability statistics found a startling increase in flaws in Unix and Linux operating systems. The controversial data revealed 812 flaws in Microsoft Corp.s Windows, compared with 2,328 vulnerabilities in various Unix and Linux packages.

      Ryan Naraine

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×