Safer Computing at Lower Cost

By W. John Hobbs

Every business organization, large and small, needs to use computers. It is no longer an option.

Everyone has heard that there are significant security problems with computers. So what are you to do? Large organizations have a bevy of technical experts whose job it is to ensure security and reliability. But smaller organizations typically cannot afford such extensive (and expensive) support.

And even those large organizations that have security ingrained as part of their culture still have problems, as these two reports indicate:

MoD dismisses computer virus
The MoD [British Ministry of Defense] has confirmed a computer virus did attack the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force's communications network.

It said the bug did not hit the weapons or navigational systems. It refused to confirm reports that 75% of the Navy's fleet had been affected.

A spokeswoman described it as a "minor blip" and said it had now been contained. "The virus has not specifically been targeted at the MoD."

Published 2009-01-16 by Teletext

And ...

Computer Virus Hits U.S. Military Base in Afghanistan
KABUL—The largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan was hit by a computer virus earlier this month that affected nearly three quarters of the computers on the base, U.S. News has learned.

This wasn't the first such cyberattack, and officials said that earlier incarnations of the virus had exported information such as convoy and troop movements here. It was not clear precisely what information, if any, was being pulled from Department of Defense computers by this latest virus, they said.

Published 2008-11-28 by U.S. News & World Report

If these kinds of organizations aren’t safe, what is a small business to do?

Windows Fundamentally Insecure

The first thing to do is to understand that popular reporting these days sacrifices accuracy for a good headline. A more accurate headline would be Microsoft Windows Virus Strikes Military – Again!

The fact of the matter is that, with very few exceptions, virtually all of the so-called “computer viruses” in the world are, in reality, "Windows viruses" – they only attack Windows computers. IBM mainframe computers are not affected; computers running different version of Unix (like Sun servers) are not affected; Apple Macintosh computers are not affected; and computers running any of the different versions of Linux (like RedHat or Ubuntu) are not affected by these viruses. At this time the only good reason to have an anti-virus program on any of these machines is to act as a good public citizen and detect Windows viruses so that they do not inadvertently get passed on by way of an outgoing email.

Linux a Frugal Alternative

For small businesses, IBM mainframes and Sun servers are overkill and inappropriate (besides being very expensive). Apple computers are very reliable and are the gold standard when it comes to ease of use – but they come at a premium price point that is difficult to justify in today’s economic climate. That leaves Linux, in one of its many versions, as a possible candidate for a secure computing platform for the frugal business manager.

Linux has come a long way in a very short time. Its overall design is based on Unix with a history of high reliability and high security. What sets Linux apart is its support for many different hardware platforms from cell phones to standard PCs to mainframe computers. There are versions that focus on different things: file/print servers, mail/web servers, firewalls, desktop/laptop computers, scientific super-computers, and so on. You may already be using Linux without knowing it: many of the D-Link and Linksys consumer router and firewall devices contain special versions of Linux. On top of that, the Linux-based operating system can be had for free.

On desktop and laptop computers, the system is just as easy to use as Windows (some would say easier). Most of these systems come with a full office suite (similar to MS Office), different email systems (including one that looks a lot like MS Outlook), web browsers (replacements for Internet Explorer), and much more at no additional cost. There is no need to buy an anti-virus package. And generally the Linux systems run just fine on older computers that might be struggling to run Windows.

Fundamentally, there are two hurdles to adopting Linux within your organization. The first is any specialized applications that only have Windows versions. For example, if your accounting system or your real estate system or your customer relationship management system only runs on Windows you will have a challenge moving to a better environment. The second hurdle is training. Linux is not Windows and the associated application systems (e.g., office, email, publishing) operate slightly differently. Your staff need to learn enough about these new tools to be able to use them comfortably. Initially there may be some frustration that they don’t work exactly the way the Windows counterpart did. But the learning curve is not necessarily very steep.

Summary

Lower costs from being able to run on existing hardware (not necessarily the latest high powered machines) and much lower software costs (often as low as zero) – combined with higher reliability and security levels than you may be experiencing with your current computers are good reasons to consider this alternative.

__________

John Hobbs is an information management consultant with four decades of varied information technology experience.