How to Cheat at Securing Linux

Linux servers now account for 33% of all networks servers running worldwide (Source: IDC). The top 3 market share holders in the network server space (IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell) all use Linux as their standard operating system for the majority of their servers designed for medium to large size businesses. As with any technologies, increased usage results in increased attention from malicious hackers. For years a myth existed that Windows was inherently less secure than Linux, because there were significantly more attacks against Windows machines than Linux. But this was a fallacy. There were more attacks against Windows machines because there were simply so many more Windows machines to attack. Now, the numbers tell the exact OPPOSITE story. Linux servers account for 1/3 of all servers worldwide, but in 2005 there were 3 times as many high-severity security vulnerabilities discovered on Linux servers.