How Secure is Open Source Software?

[mandy]

Open source software -- it's fast, it's popular, it's practical, and, best of all, it's free.

Chances are (if your firm is like most) you're using some of it somewhere in your enterprise; in fact, you're probably using it in multiple places. One of the most frequent questions security professionals get asked is how open source compares to its commercial counterparts from a security perspective.

There are a number of well-respected individuals arguing on both sides of the "open source security" fence: some say that the fact that open source code is transparent and freely available helps make open source more secure than commercial software.

On the other hand, there are other well-respected individuals who claim that lack of contractual agreements between vendor and purchaser in the open source world makes open source deployments less secure...

full article: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/b7hs...rity.xhtml