In the computer world, especially in 2021, Linux is a tool increasingly present in multiple sectors. Cloud systems such as Microsoft Azure, for example, already work based on the open source system; little by little, even common users embrace the platform in their daily lives.
It is this reality that makes experts believe that Linux will become the future of digital security. In addition to the operating system, more and more open source software is being used, as indicated by a Gartner report that by 2025, 70 percent of companies will use open source software at some level of their operations.
And while that happens, a severe problem appears: the possible vulnerabilities of open source systems, responsible this year for the gigantic crisis of the Log4J public library, of Apache Java, that severely affected the world.
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How to maintain protection
The main problem with the Log4J vulnerability is a common good for programs that use open source: knowing which of its features and functions, present in which version of the library or system, are causing the problem.
In a future where open source software and systems, such as Linux, become the most fundamental pieces of virtual security, how to address this problem, to enable easier detection of any problems?
The open source enthusiast community knows this, and so in recent years it has started using the Software Materials Guidelines (SBOM), documents distributed along with programs that list all the components used in it.
This feature is especially important for Linux, which, if you have any discovered security problem, can, with the support of SBOM, together with code security verification services, such as Tidelift Catalogs, can solve your problems more easily and less headaches, preventing future scenarios such as Log4J from happening again.
However, this is all speculation at the moment. As the use of Linux and other open source software increases, it becomes possible to imagine these scenarios, but in the current state of the world, perhaps this transition in virtual security would be as impactful as a second digital transformation, which many companies are not. able to face so soon.
