Bastille Adds Reporting, Grabs Fed Attention

johnny.ihackstuff.com writes "NewsForge interviews the Bastille project lead Jay Beale about Bastille's cool new assessment feature, which reports and scores Linux security and -- as always -- makes Linux lockdown super-easy. Available for many distros and Mac OS X, too. Best of all, it's free and open source!" As Jay points out in the interview, the work was "sponsored by the U.S. government's Technical Support Working Group." An anonymous reader summarizes the new capability: "In essence, Bastille now does two things. In one mode, it locks down an operating system, tweaking the configuration for increased security, asking you about each step and teaching you along the way. In the new Assessment mode, it reports on what hardening steps have been taken and what could be taken."

Call me a bluff traditionalist...

[gowen]

... but if I were starting a Linux security project, I'd name it after a prison which was difficult to escape from [wikipedia.org], rather than one famous for being stormed by about 1,000 upset Frenchmen. [wikipedia.org]

Well...

[JavaMoose]

I downloaded this, but I can't get it to run.

Anyone else haveing problems getting this to run on Windows XP?

Needs to be point and click.

[Guano_Jim]

The download instructions for OSX were a little intimidating, even for someone like me with basic Unix skills...

Once Bastille for OSX becomes completely point and click it will take off like Jean Valjean after stealing a loaf of bread.

Re:Call me a bluff traditionalist...

[Qzukk]

rather than one famous for being stormed by about 1,000 upset Frenchmen.

Good thing I don't need to keep 1000 upset Frenchmen out of my server ;)

Re:Well...

[ggvaidya]

Me too!

Do you get error code "4.09 Windows XP? Am I on candid camera?" too? Maybe we should report this ...

Re:A windows version

[NickHewitt]

There is a windows version - its called the Microsoft Security Centre - it checks to see if you have an AV package, XP firewall turned on and Automatic updates switched on.. what more do you need to secure a windows box?

Re:Scoring systems

[gowen]

People are by nature competative and will strive to improve a "score" even if it doesn't necessarily help them in any way

You're talking rubbish. Now, excuse me, I've got to go and whore some more Karma.

Hah! You silly American programmers!

[Anonymous Coward]

I wave my private parts in your general direction!

[hurls poop]

Re:Call me a bluff traditionalist...

[gowen]

Bastille is a French word meaning "castle" or "stronghold"

And "C'était une plaisanterie, vous clod d'humeur-moins" is a French phrase meaning "It was a joke, you humourless clod."

Re:Call me a bluff traditionalist...

[mattyrobinson69]

I dont think they'd be a problem, im guessing bash doesn't understand outrageous comical accents.

Re:Call me a bluff traditionalist...

[jd]

If you recall correctly? I hope you mean if someone else recalls correctly. :)

Re:Needs to be point and click.

[clickster]

Once Bastille for OSX becomes completely point and click it will take off like Jean Valjean after stealing a loaf of bread.

As I recall, he didn't get very far, did he...Javert (sp?) my old friend.

Re:Why do we need to harden distros ?

[iamnotanumber6]

I built a very secure version too.

1) It had no shells of any sort, nor any user interface of any sort.

2) It would not mount any file system at all.

3) It had a firewall consisting of a one-inch air gap between the power cord and the power supply, which effectively prevented all unwanted electrons from breaking into the system.

This was *really* the ultimate in Linux security.