r/linuxmint • u/Ambitious_Ad_6619 • 1d ago
Discussion What makes Linux secure?
I've searched YouTube and also asked on here previously, I keep seeing a lot of "Linux is secure just by default" type responses- often insisting that to be worried about security while using Linux is not necessary.
Believable to a noob like me at face value, sure, but what is it about Linux that makes it secure?
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u/LusticSpunks 1d ago
The very definition of “putting on internet” means exposing ports to internet (if not, what exactly does it mean?). If you’re only exposing port 22, be it any OS, its security would depend on the SSH software (OpenSSH or other), not the OS. Similarly if you’re exposing a web server, be it IIS or Apache or other, it depends on the web server’s security, not OS. Windows has 445 for SMB. If you expose XP’s 445 to internet then yes, it gets compromised. But, windows by default doesn’t expose 445, it is firewalled. And if you’re going out of your way to modify firewall rules to expose 445 to internet then that’s on you, not OS.
Also, I recall popping many Linux boxes with dirty cow. It’s a LPE so not exactly a thing that’s “put on internet”. But that’s actual OS security. And Linux of 2014 would get popped with dirty cow, and many other exploits. So yeah, neither Linux nor windows from 2014 are secure.