Doug Ross @ Journal

Top Open-Source Security Applications

Picture credit: http://www.f-secure.de
If open-source security applications suit your taste (and, frankly, they should), NewsFactor reports on the top 'brands' of the OSS security world:

OpenSSL: Anthony Nadalin, Chief Security Architect for IBM's software group, recommends Bouncy Castle crypto interfaces and OpenSSL -- an open-source implementation of the secure sockets layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS) protocols... OpenSSH: OpenSSH is another software package that comes highly recommended. This open-source implementation of the Secure SHell (SSH) session technology is designed to let administrators and users open a command shell on a remote host... Nessus: When it comes down to it, no matter what security system you use, you'll need to test for security vulnerabilities in your code. Both Jaquith and Moyle rate Nessus as a top-tier open-source vulnerability scanner... Nmap: Moyle and Jaquith recommend the Nmap port scanner, which is designed to interrogate remote hosts to see what services they are running. The open-source application usually can detect the operating system correctly as well... "For example, many companies use it to 'sweep' their networks to see what hosts are there, and to see if any of them are running services that would violate policy." IPtables: IPTables and IPFW are host-based firewalls for Linux and BSD, respectively. Both of them do the same thing: They block access to particular server ports using a flexible rule-based-language... ClamAV: Barracuda Networks' Levow sees considerable merit in the use of open-source antivirus and antispam tools, and specifically points to ClamAV as the largest and also most widely used open-source antivirus technology...

NewsFactor: Top Open-Source Security Applications