Penetration Testing mailing list archives

Re: Nessus - open or closed source?


From: Stefano Zanero <s.zanero () securenetwork it>
Date: Tue, 08 Nov 2005 13:59:07 +0100

Disclaimer 1: I A N A L

Disclaimer 2: I am not a native speaker

Justin Ross quote:

DoD Instruction 8500.2, Information
Assurance (IA) Implementation, dated February 6, 2003. 

"Binary or machine executable public domain software products and other 
software products with limited or no warranty such as those commonly known 
as freeware or shareware are not used in DoD information systems unless 
they are necessary for mission accomplishment and there are no alternative 
IT solutions available. Such products are assessed for information 
assurance impacts, and approved for use by the
DAA. The assessment addresses the fact that such software products are 
difficult or impossible to review, repair, or extend, given that the 
Government does not have access to the original source code and there is 
no owner who could make such repairs on behalf of the Government."

What is written right there is that BINARY public domain software can
not be used. It doesn't say ANYTHING against FOSS software such as
Nessus has been until now.

So, in fact, moving to a CLOSED software model is a step AGAINST this
requirement. Am I missing something ?

-- 
Cordiali saluti,
Ing. Stefano Zanero
---------------------------
Secure Network S.r.l.
www.securenetwork.it

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