So with open source software more on my mind lately I was wondering - while I get the benefits of transparency and such, how safe is it? If the source code is available to all, isn’t it easier to breach for people (like the recent cookies hack)? If I’d have an open source password manager, would it be easier for people to get my passwords somehow than if I use something not open source? Do I just not understand how software works in general?
And what are other benefits that may be not so obvious to someone not so knowledgable about this?
Edit: thank you all for really insightful answers! Among other things I also learned just how much I don’t know :)
Short answer is no. Safety of a program is in its implementation, not in the visibility of the code.
Most of the internet runs on opensource code, most companies that require highest security rely on open source programs, while companies relying on proprietary software are victims of hackers, malwares, ransomware every second (I am not going to name names to avoid useless wars).
That said, not all open source code is safe to use, as no all closed source software is safe to use. Bigger projects, used by many and used by experts are usually safe, most often even safer than close source counterparts.
Smaller projects are as safe as any random software downloaded from internet, unless you are able to read the code yourself. Many are safe, many aren’t, few are malevolent.
Be careful and research the program you are installing for security concerns.
If you want to download big stuff like debian, fedora, blender, gimp, krita, chromium, vscode, docker, k8s (I don’t know what you are into) just be sure that you trust the source from were you download binaries. The same as for any closed source software
Technically, vscode isn’t open source. It’s in the same situation of chrome vs chromium.
Majority is the same, but Microsoft has some non-open source parts of vscode.
Vscode repo contains “code - oss”
There is VSCodium that is released under MIT without the Microsoft proprietery stuff.
Except Chromium can still access the Chrome extension store. The VSCode extension store is not included with the OSS version, which seriously hampers the usefulness of the app.
I know, but I didn’t want to add too many details to the answer. Also because the core of vscode is open source and can be read by anyone
It’s more safe than closed source because it’s open for all to view and edit. Of course if nobody looks at it then it’s as good as being closed.
I don’t necessarily agree with this. Just because software is open doesn’t mean it’s actually getting audited and it also doesn’t mean the people doing any auditing know what to look for.
On the other hand, closed source (or open source) software can be audited by reputable companies just the same.
The fact that it’s open, in my opinion, can give people a false sense of security with the software.
The log4shell vulnerability existed in the code since 2013 and wasn’t found until the end of 2021.
I don’t think the real problem is that the vulnerabilities exist. It’s a question of how many people are looking for those vulnerabilities and what those people’s intentions are. With big open source projects, as someone else already pointed out, the number of good actors far exceeds the malicious ones, so when a vulnerability is identified it’s more likely to be by someone who just wants to patch it, not exploit it for gain. In a closed source project, fewer good actors are looking - only the people allowed to work on the code - but the bad actors are probably pretty much the same. Of course, popularity of the program and what it’s actually doing matter, too, in terms of how interested bad actors are going to be.
I love the idea of open source software for exactly this reason. I see it as a reminder that most people are good.
Open source is generally considered to be more secure because the large number of eyes on it are expected to catch the vulnerabilities. That’s the idea anyway.
I get where you’re coming from though. If anyone can see how it works it must be easier to break into right? But if something is only secure because you don’t know how it works, then it isn’t really secure at all.
But if something is only secure because you don’t know how it works, then it isn’t really secure at all.
For an IRL equivalence, just watch any Lock Picking Lawyer video featuring any Master lock. If watching how easily defeated those locks are plummets your confidence in those locks, well it’s the same idea with digital security.
Right. The amount people with good intentions looking for vulnerabilities in open source software far outnumbers the amount of malicious actors looking for vulnerabilities. Chances are great that, by the time malicious actors find a vulnerability, someone with good intentions is working on a patch already.
It depends on the project. A server used by thousand of users and companies? Super secure. A random library with barely any usage or engagement? I wouldn’t trust it without reading the source first.
To add, open source projects tend to give YOU more control over the data (if not the mainline version, some fork will probably exist. Its far more profitable to target a big company for a ransom than an average Joe. Obviously, as long as you don’t fall for one of the classic blunders.
I think one general benefit of open source is that in general - they are built for the user rather than for the stakeholders.
If Spotify was an open source app - you know for sure you would be able to hide podcasts for example (for people who don’t care about podcasts and just want a music experience). However, since for Spotify The Business it’s better to piss off X% of their users if Y% of their users turn into podcast users - they’re not going care about the angry X%.
So in general - in open source apps you’ll generally find features users actually want and very rarely the app will try to push new features on you because they’re trying to make numbers look good on their quarterly report.
Security through obscurity is never a good thing, this has been proven many times over.
Basically, both models have been set to the test years after years, open source software always wins in regards of security over closed source solutions. Security holes are patched faster, and in most cases, way before they’re even exploited.
Other benefits are… well, you can change it however you like… or pay someone to change it (not so uncommon as some might think).
Providing enterprise support for open source software ain’t much, but it’s honest work
It still beats closed source solutions. We had SonicWall at work, it got breached 3 times. Now we have an OS solution, a company maintains it, we haven’t had a single breach in years.
There are good comments here already, but I thought I’d provide a practical breakdown of my experience using both in web development.
Open source software is generally better overall from a programming perspective. The “many eyes” dynamic can be extremely positive if the project has a strong developer community. Even smaller communities make great software.
On a security level, I’d say they’re about on par - I’ve had about as many security issues with open source as I have with closed. It was what to do when that security problem arose that the real difference came into play. In open source, you either have to figure it out yourself, or wait for the community to fix it. In closed source, you’re paying someone to fix it for you. On the balance, closed source security issues get fixed faster than open source in my experience, but it really depends on the strength of the community behind the open source project, versus the size of the closed source company - bigger companies move a lot slower than many of the smaller services I’ve used.
On a software evolution level, open source wipes the floor with closed source. There’s simply no competing with the amount of creative minds behind open source development. Most closed source successes in the online world are built on the backs of open source developers - if not directly, than on the ideas that had their genesis in the open source space.
When it comes to consistency and stability, they’re about neck and neck, with a slight advantage to closed source. Again, it’s the difference between volunteers maintaining the code and someone you’re paying.
On a personal level, how much do you want to be involved with running the software? If you want to have a greater level of control, build new features, and have the time to maintain it, go open source. If you just want it to work and you’re willing to pay someone else to maintain it, go closed source.
Note in a corporate setting, it’s often better to go with closed source, as then you have more plausible deniability and someone else to blame when it fails.
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” - Linus Torvalds
Open Source software is (caveat, qualifier) safer than proprietary software. (And I’ll get to the caveats and qualifiers later.)
Software exploits are possible only because of mistakes, oversights, negligence, or mistaken assumptions on the part of the developer of user of the code. More eyes on the code help suss out those mistakes, oversights, negligence, and mistaken assumptions, creating a more secure (and bug-free) piece of software.
Besides that, companies that make proprietary software have incentives to put evil things into said proprietary software that endanger you to enrich them. (For instance, phone apps collecting personal data about you only to sell to advertising companies.) Companies that contribute to open source software also have incentives to put evil things into open source software, but when everyone has access to view the source code, it’s a lot harder to get away with that. (Not to say it’s never happened that purposeful vulnerabilities have gotten into open source software, but it’s a lot easier to catch such vulnerabilities in open source software than proprietary software.)
As others have said, the way algorithms related to security are designed, the security doesn’t depend on keeping the algorithm secret. (But rather, keeping a “key” – a bit of data generated by the algorithm – secret.)
Now, caveats.
I do believe there is some extent to which open source software is trusted to be safe even when the “chain of custody” is questionable. There are ways to ensure integrity, but there are repositories such as NPM that carry large amounts of open source software that is used by huge numbers of people on a regular basis that don’t utilize sufficient integrity checking techniques. As a result, there have been a few cases where malicious code has sneaked into NPM and then into codebases.
There are also cases where governments have gotten malicious code into open source projects. (Though, I’d expect that’s more of a problem with proprietary software, not less.)
If you know how to code and you audit the code and compile it yourself from the source code ? Then it is 100% safe.
If the program is from a well regarded community and the source code is easily accessible to the public and it has been regularly reviewed by experts ? Then it is pretty safe.
If the program is from an unknown source and the source code is difficult to access by the public or it is obfuscated and no reviews are available? It is probably better to give it a miss and keep looking for a program that is more trustworthy which suits your needs.
Neither closed or open software is safer than the other in my opinion. If someone wants to find a vulnerability they will find a vulnerability. The only advantage open source maybe has that it’s harder to hide vulnerabilities for years and it’s more obvious if they don’t fix it. But personally I wouldn’t use open source just for safety reasons.
Wow. I couldn’t possibly be any more your opposite in this regard. I try very hard not to run proprietary software. For safety reasons. And when I do run proprietary software, I do my best to sandbox it. I don’t let my Nintendo Switch talk to my home network often. I hacked my robotic vacuum cleaner not to phone home. I do my (U.S.) taxes on stupid paper because there aren’t pure-FOSS options for filing electronically.
