Open-source software a security risk, study claims - Security Central _7165

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Open-source software is a significant security risk for corporations that use it because in many cases,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, the open source community fails to adhere to minimal security best practices, according a study released Monday.
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But too often the open-source communities that offer their software for free don't appear to be as mindful about security practices as their commercial counterparts, which charge for software and support, West says.
But when Fortify tried to reach out to the open-source software communities, with the primary point of contact a Web site and a general e-mail address, the security firm found that "in two-thirds of these cases, you didn't get a response at all," West says. "There are no phone numbers. Who do you go to ask for information? It's kind of hard to tell who these people are."
The remaining 10 open-source application, tool and database packages -- Derby, Geronimo, Hibernate, Hipergate, JBoss,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, Jonas,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, OFBiz,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, OpenCMS, Resin, and Struts -- had a dismal showing. Among these 10 packages, application server JBoss scored higher by providing a prominent link to security information on its Web site and easy access to security experts, but came up short for not having a specific e-mail alias for submission of security vulnerabilities.
The report itself notes, "Open-source packages often claim enterprise-class capabilities but are not adopting -- or even considering -- industry best practices. Only a few open source development teams are moving in the right direction."
Fortify identified a total of 22,826 cross-site scripting and 15,612 SQL injection issues associated with multiple versions of the 11 open-source software packages examined.
Open-source software a security risk, study claims | Security Central
          July 21, 2008               Open-source software a security risk,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, study claims               A study by Fortify Software found that open source doesn't adhere to security best practices well and can lag in fixing security issues          By Ellen Messmer | Network World                                                Print                                |                  Add a comment                                                                                                                                                     
West says Fortify did not conduct this study in order to condemn open source software, but rather to point out that the security practices need to improve because open source adoption by enterprises and governments is growing.
"You don't want to report bugs to a general mailing list because it would go to the general public," says Jacob West, manager of Fortify's security research group. There needs to be a measure of confidentiality in reporting bugs so that the fix for them can be provided when the public is notified, so attackers don't get early information they can exploit.
Open source application server Tomcat scored the best in the study, titled "Open Source Study -- How Are Open Source Development Communities Embracing Security Best Practices?"
The study, carried out by Fortify Software with help from consultant Larry Suto, evaluated 11 open-source software packages and each community's response to security issues over the course of about three months. The goal was to find out if the community for each open-source software package was responsive to security questions or vulnerability findings, published security guidelines, and maintained a secure development process, for example.
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