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Linux vs. Windows: Which is Most Secure?

   [35]Kenneth van Wyk
   March 16, 2007
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   eSecurity Planet content and product recommendations are editorially independent.
   We may make money when you click on links to our partners. [41]Learn More.


   Editor's Note: A lot has changed since this article was written so we decided to
   take another look at the topic. Check out the new article, [42]Is Linux Really
   More Secure than Windows?, to see what the findings are ... you might be
   surprised (or not).

   I'm more secure on Linux than I am on Windows. Yup, that's right. I have no doubt
   whatsoever that I am.

   I started down this path by comparing how secure I am on a Mac vs. on Windows,
   then I compared [43]Mac vs. Linux. To complete that trifecta, I guess it's only
   fair to compare the end-user data security aspects of Windows against Linux.

   Before I get into my rationale, though, just a little more background is in
   order. I started using a UNIX desktop way back in college and was always
   comfortable there. At my first couple of jobs after college, I mostly used UNIX
   workstations from Dec and Sun as my primary desktops.

   Later, I started using Windows-based systems at the office, but never felt quite
   at home. I was constantly frustrated by the frequent reboots, lack of serious
   security capabilities (from my perspective), and such. Then, following a brief
   foray in OS/2, I quickly gravitated to running Linux at home so I could once
   again have a real multi-tasking working environment.

   Nowadays, my primary desktop is on a Macbook Pro - the best computer I've ever
   owned, without any doubt.

   But, I still run a Debian Linux infrastructure for my company, with a couple
   Samba servers at its core. It's not uncommon for the Linux systems to go over a
   year in between reboots. And, I still use XP on another laptop from time to time,
   generally when a customer requires it or I absolutely must run something like
   ActiveX controls on a web site. I try my best to learn how to best use the
   security features of each OS I use, naturally.

   So, with that background in mind, it's clear my views are somewhat biased.
   However, I consider myself very open-minded and will always give credit where
   it's due. Heck, some of my best friends use Windows (but I do my best to talk
   them into OS X anyway).

   o True to UNIX.It's tough to be entirely fair here, since Windows isn't UNIX in
   any sense. But my point here is that Linux does follow the security features and
   capabilities it inherited from UNIX quite closely. In particular, the notion of
   an administrative (root) user that maintains and operates the system, and desktop
   users who only run the software on the system, is completely ingrained in most
   Linux distributions.

   Now it's true that many Linux users ignore these features and run all their
   software from a root-level account anyway, but that's a choice that they've made.
   The system defaults to protecting the operating system components from its user's
   actions (intentional or otherwise). That feature alone must account in large
   degree for the dearth of viruses and other malicious vermin on Linux and UNIX
   platforms.

   Windows, on the other hand, started life as a single user system, with that
   single user being all-powerful. Although that's no longer the case, the general
   attitude can still be found in many Windows-based software products - many of
   which just can't be installed and/or run properly without desktop administrator
   privileges. This is all changing for the better, but it took Microsoft far too
   long to adopt this default-secure configuration practice.

   Qualitative score: Windows gets a D+ while Linux gets an A-.

   o "Bummer of a birthmark"Many of us no doubt remember Gary Larson's Far Side
   comic strip in which two deer are standing around, and one of the deer has a big
   bulls-eye target on his chest... You get the picture.

   Well, in many ways, that's the sad state of affairs for Windows users these days.
   It's true that phishers, virus writers, and other miscreants could target other
   operating systems, but by and large they don't.

   As other operating systems gain market share, that's likely change, but by my
   thinking, Linux isn't going to be the next big target. So, until and unless that
   target "birthmark" finds its way onto another victim, it's "bummer of a
   birthmark" time for Windows users. (Hint: the "birthmark" itself is your
   Outlook/Internet Explorer combination!)

   Qualitative score: Windows gets an F while Linux gets an A.

   o User data confidentiality. All those commands that I grew comfortable with on
   UNIX (e.g., chmod, chown, umask) for protecting or sharing my data are in Linux
   and are easy for me to work with. Although the features are relatively on the
   light side as industrial strength file access control goes, the tools and
   capabilities are readily available and they work pretty darned well.

   While it's true that Windows has equivalent commands and GUI interfaces for
   protecting one's data, I've always found them to be awkward at best, and
   generally defaulting to open (world read-write) unless I go out of my way to lock
   down my own files.

   Now, to be fair, I have to point out that the Windows NTFS file system has a
   phenomenally powerful set of features when it comes to file/directory access
   control and auditing. Indeed, when used properly, an NTFS file system can be very
   tightly configured to the needs of a user or application. The problem is that so
   few people do it or even know how to do it.

   One other factor here is the availability of third-party file and disk encryption
   products. Here Windows clearly has the upper hand, and I'm noticing more and more
   corporate laptops employing disk encryption as a standard configuration item. (I
   guess we can thank the likes of the U.S. Veterans Administration for that.)

   Qualitative score: Windows gets a B- while Linux gets a B+.

   o Patch practices. Here Windows shines (finally). With Windows Updatebeing
   readily available and running by default as of XP SP2, things are finally looking
   up for Windows users. From the perspective of an end-user seeking to keep his
   computer up to date with the current vendor-supplied security patches, Windows
   sure does make things easy.

   Linux isn't too far in the distance, though. Most Linux distributions do a
   respectable job at automated security patch management. Many are opt-in, however,
   and the interface varies from one distribution to the next, making it a bit less
   easy to do things properly for a typical end-user.

   The elapsed time from notification to patch, on the other hand, can vary
   substantially. Overall, and again from a highly subjective viewpoint, I give a
   slight edge to Linux, but I do feel that Microsoft has made great advances in the
   past few years.

   Qualitative score: Windows gets an A- while Linux gets a B+.

   With these scores in mind, I have absolutely no doubt that my data is safest on a
   Linux system than on a Windows system. And that ends my three-way comparison of
   the user-level security in OS X, Windows, and Linux. I've tried to be as fair as
   I can, and have given credit where each is worthy of it - and wrath where it's
   not.

   My overall winner remains Apple's OS X, which offers the best of both worlds
   (UNIX and Windows-like) to me. I have the native desktop apps that I need to do
   business, and underneath it all is the familiar face of UNIX. I'm at $HOME.

   In closing, I should also say that a person determined to keep her data secure
   can certainly use any of these three operating systems successfully. There's
   enough good in the worst of them (and bad in the best of them) that what matters
   most is really learning how to use all the security capabilities of the OS you're
   most comfortable with.

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   [46]Kenneth van Wyk Avatar
   [47]Kenneth van Wyk
   Kenneth R. van Wyk is an internationally recognized information security expert
   and author of the O'Reilly and Associates books Incident Response and Secure
   Coding. In addition to providing consulting and training services through his
   company, KRvW Associates, LLC, he currently holds numerous positions--the
   Director of Cigital's Research Labs, monthly columnist for online security portal
   eSecurityPlanet, and Visiting Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University's Software
   Engineering Institute.

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