SELinux on Ubuntu 8.04 and preinstalled w/ 8.10?

[Chayak]

Well, one thing I was concerned about regarding security (and Id consider myself an average computer user, but doing some photoshop and html too) was how simple it is to crack XP's logon password. I saw some video on the web how people burned a livecd to bypass the XP logon. Nifty stuff, yet I read a few weeks ago in the forums here (dont remember where) how people can just do a few lines in the terminal to bypass a linux password.

I have people I work with I dont trust and for all I know they have keyloggers on all the other computers in the business. I wouldnt put it passed them. No that I have linux I feel secure again, but once they get into linux themselves and start messing around, or just doing some random searches on google... they are going to (sooner or later) find how how to type a few things in the terminal and once again they can get back into my system.

What can I do?

Use the alt install CD stick a blank usb flash drive in and install an encrypted partition onto the hard drive and put the /boot onto the usb flash drive. This assuming the computer you're installing on will boot from usb. Use a strong passphrase and check the computer for hardware keyloggers before you boot it and you should be decently safe

I have the same type of setup on my laptop. I of course have backups of the usb boot stick.

[darthchaosofrspw]

On another forum Im in people are concerned about government back doors like how the NSA is tapped into MS Vista systems. Security is a big reason why many people head over to linux.

Would this forum by any chance be the Prison Planet Forum?

[redgsturbo]

VMWare isn't that secure. Xen is more secure... vmware completely bypasses the kernel network hooks and thus can't be controlled with iptables/etc.. (so I'm told, I've never personally verified this).

Default openbsd is more secure than ubuntu desktop, but then default openbsd isn't remotely as usable as ubuntu desktop... fully hardened linux or bsd are for all purposes equal in security. add a graphical desktop on top of either and you forfeit *some* security, but still not the swiss cheese that MS products or MacOSX is

Secondly, the majority of security problems don't stem from mad ninja-skilled stack or heap exploits, or code injection at all... they come from social engineering and people putting their too often required to be changed and too complex to remember passwords on their desks, not following security policies, etc. The better solution is to use smartcards or tokens and not allow access at all without them. encrypt home directories independently based on these keys and data at rest is protected. use randomized address spaces, stack canary's, SELinux for segregation, etc etc, and data in execution is protected. Use encrypted email, ssl/tls, ipsec, etc and data in transit is protected. Keep everything open source so it is independently verifiably secure (even if you don't know how to verify security, just the fact that its open to the worlds scrutiny is reasonably convincing that it has been reviewed). thats about the best you can do right now.

[zdux0012]

I will move to another distro because of SE-Linux. Will encourage friends and family to do the same.
Ubuntu you've done a great job getting people to move over to linux. However this is where it ends.

You can call me a "conspiracy theorist" if it makes your world view a little easier to digest.

[cariboo]

So are you moving to another distribution because of a rumour that SELinux will be installed by default in the next release of Ubuntu, or you moving away because Apparmor will be the default security solution for the forseeable future?.

One other thing to think about is this:

Founded in late 2004, Canonical Ltd is a company headquartered in Europe with over 200 employees working in 23 countries (and counting). Canonical is the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu project.

The above is one of the best reasons to stay with Ubuntu. It is not based in the US.

Jim

[zdux0012]

You could just answer the question.

[damatta]

Same concern here. Before people start bashing me, I'm not saying it does contain backdoors or something similar.
There are many other "courtesies" from the NSA to the linux world but this one really got me thinking...

[bodhi.zazen]

You could just answer the question.

As far as I know, there are no plans to change from apparmour to selinux in Ubuntu.

With your level of concern (dare I say paranoia) there is only 1 solution, LFS.