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About SULinux
Purpose and History
System compromises often illustrate the point that:
  • Linux administrators often do not have the time/knowledge to properly secure a linux system.
  • Very little needed to be changed to secure a linux system. The changes, though small, are essential to protecting a linux system.
  • Linux administrators wanted an easy solution.

Several people were involved in creating SULinux, including Susan Feng (created the AFS, SSH, and Kerberos packages), Joe Little (Testing, merging updates, continued support, etc.), and David Brumley (created the security package). Leland Systems provided the original hardware, support, and funding. The original release notification is here. Hosting is currently provided by CS, and most support is provided by Joe Little. The logo was designed by Miles Davis.

Today, the number of linux compromises has been significantly reduced due to SULinux. We have had virtually no compromised SULinux systems. While not a perfect solution, and probably "hackable", SULinux provides several layers of defense against attackers while still trying to give administrators and users the flexability to get things done.

Remember, SULinux IS RedHat linux with added packages and update mechanisms that help Stanford users maintain secure linux systems. SULinux provides the correct tools and base to start from. Its effectiveness depends on its users to actively use these tools to keep their system secure.

Credits
SULinux today is maintained by a team of people in the EE Department. SULinux continues to repackage software created, maintained, or updated by Leland Systems. We would like to specifically thank the following people for their work and commitment to the project:

  • Joe Little - EE/CSL - for his work in creating, updating, testing, and developing SULinux.
  • Susan Feng - Leland Systems Group - for her work in updating, testing, and developing SULinux (she wrote 3/4 of the original SULinux packages!).
  • Sandy Senti - Director of DCG - for supporting her staff in developing this project.
  • David Brumley - For his original work.
  • All SULinux Users - for improving the security of the Stanford network by installing SULinux!



Site last modified: Sat Feb 18 18:43:00 PDT 2006