40 Bugs in Operating Systems (Common Attacks - Firewalls)
Description
This article is from the Firewalls FAQ, by Matt Curtin cmcurtin@interhack.net and Marcus J. Ranum mjr@nfr.com with numerous contributions by others.
40 Bugs in Operating Systems (Common Attacks - Firewalls)
Again, these are typically initiated by users remotely. Operating systems
that are relatively new to IP networking tend to be more problematic, as
more mature operating systems have had time to find and eliminate their
bugs. An attacker can often make the target equipment continuously reboot,
crash, lose the ability to talk to the network, or replace files on the
machine.
Here, running as few operating system services as possible can help. Also,
having a packet filter in front of the operating system can reduce the
exposure to a large number of these types of attacks.
And, of course, chosing a stable operating system will help here as well.
When selecting an OS, don't be fooled into believing that ``the pricier, the
better''. Free operating systems are often much more robust than their
commercial counterparts
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