Digital Security was one of the hot topics of the 16th International Free Software Forum ( FISL ), which took place 8-11 July in Porto Alegre . The event is the largest of its kind in the world and always warned of the uncertainty of depending proprietary software – those whose source code is not revealed by the manufacturer. However, it does have a machine “100% free” is a guarantee of protection against invaders and information leakage? Here’s what experts say.
you lost some talk? Watch in the FISL site
Having the open source allows programmers user community address any failures of software and even protect the manufacturers, if they have embedded malicious content in their products. However, the protection of free software is finding its limits.
“This idea that open source is more secure … I have my doubts,” admits Ramiro Pozzani, expert safety nets and speaker of FISL 16, in a speech last Friday (9).
“Before, Microsoft was always first in the number of errors. Since this was a year in which left several security holes in Linux, “recalls Pozzani, comparing the performance of Windows, most used operating system in the world, with the most popular operating system open source.
“But put a backdoor (feature that sends information from your computer without the user knowing) in free software is very difficult,” acknowledges.
In alarmist tone, Pozzani emphasizes that we are all vulnerable to attack – from large companies to individuals. Cybercriminals work taking advantage of flaws discovered in the software system, loopholes that can be used to hack computers. Crawl the Internet in search of IPs that have these flaws. The older the operating system, most at risk are the user.
“The world is small. If I know a failure, it is very easy to scan the entire Internet behind access doors. For example, if I know of a failed port 80, a scan in Shodan gives me all results of vulnerable IPs in the world. The criminal will track the Internet, find your IP, see that you have the failure and will explore “he explains.
But what can be done to protect yourself? Pozzani gives some basic tips:
– Always update your software. Outdated software mean many programming loopholes uncorrected;
– Software pirates are never reliable. Be careful with the origin of what you install on your computer;
– Be careful what you click on your e-mail: You can accidentally install malware on your computer. It seems like an obvious tip, but even experienced people sometimes fall into traps. Pozzani account of a friend who received an e-mail with the name of his girlfriend while she was talking to the Internet. He opened it, thinking that the message was part of the conversation. Result: screwed up
A computer, multiple threats
If you’re already scared by the amount of threats. potential prowling your computer, get ready: it worse. Speaking at FISL, the free software developer Matthew Garrett explained that a computer actually consists of multiple computers: CPU, video card, sound card, hard drive, wifi control, even webcam.
All of these components have firmware, electronic components provided with own schedule, which “tell” the hardware how it should operate.
Each of these firmwares It is a potential vulnerability, and often they do not have open source. This means that you do not have access to the functioning of the firmware, or you can change it or fix bugs.
Garrett gives an example of the danger of that, “Anyone can plant a criminal content on the hard drive taking advantage of the hard drive firmware. This file does not appear on your hard drive, will be invisible. So, one can make it reappear and incriminate him. Convince the police of his innocence will be a tough job, “he explains.
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The free software can save us from this? Unfortunately – at least for now. Currently, most of the modern hardware (hard drives, video cards and other components cited) only works with certified firmware. Therefore, no compatibility with free firmware. “We run the risk of losing control of our own hardware,” laments Garrett.
The Internet is an unsafe place and unfortunately there is still no way to create an invulnerable shield around our computers. The way is always sleep with one eye open. And taking the disconnected computer.
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