[CentOS] SELinux - way of the future or good idea but !!!

Wed Dec 8 15:39:50 UTC 2010
Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com>

On 12/8/2010 9:21 AM, Lamar Owen wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 07, 2010 06:29:44 pm Les Mikesell wrote:
>> I think you've missed the point that 'all that stuff' (being traditional unix
>> security mechanisms) are not all that insecure.  It is only when you get them
>> wrong that you need to fall back on selinux as a safety net.   And if you can't
>> get the simple version right, how can you hope to do it right with something
>> wildly more complicated?
>
> Alright, pray tell how I, a desktop Linux user, can, without VM's and without having to switch users, protect my files from a PDF attack through Adobe Reader?

Don't run software you don't trust. Keep the software you run up to 
date.  Don't open files you don't trust.

 > Or a surf-by web infection (NoScript can help; NoScript is also a pain)?

Don't visit web sites you don't trust with browsers that auto-execute stuff.

>But the desktop security use case often gets short shrift, and thus I raise that banner, being that I have been a desktop Linux user for 13+ years)

Does the default configuration cover the cases you present?  Or are you 
suggesting that every user needs the equivalent of a 4 day/$3K training 
course to be able to secure their linux distribution?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com