Qubes OS Review

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by lotuseclat79, May 2, 2011.

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  1. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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  2. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    No, I don't think so. Qubes OS hasn't much relevance to home computing. But it could be useful in server environments to guard against zero day attacks.
     
  3. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Hi NormanF,

    Apparently, you missed the part about isolating the environment for banking from a home computer - of course, it has relevance!

    However, most folks today that do banking from their home computer foolishly think they are secure - on a Windows computer.

    You never know, when OSes begin to be built like Qubes with secure isolation in mind and the black hats concentrate enough on hardware related schemes - who's to say that there will Never be a blue pill for Qubes, eh?

    -- Tom
     
  4. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    Banks are secured by SSL site. And most people do business on the Internet over a secured network.

    If you exercise due prudence, you shouldn't have to worry about online safety. Have a firewall and on Windows computers, have anti-virus and anti-malware software installed.

    I've never needed anything else and I've never had my computer invaded by a virus or a Trojan Horse.
     
  5. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Hi NormanF,

    What you don't know about is how many times banks have been compromised - i.e. they do not like to advertise that they have been breached - SSL and Windows - just like Swiss cheese, IOW full of holes since no Windows OS has ever been designed with security aforethought, except for Singularity which may never see the light of day.

    Wrt trojan horses - none that you know about, eh?

    My advice - we will all benefit from Qubes, so pay attention, it may just save all our b***s.

    -- Tom
     
  6. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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    this is very interesting thread worth checking thanks lotuseclat79 for sharing its feel like what we use in windows sandboxie

    a set of tight rules inside different sandboxes for every different propose yes i read the site and like their idea that its very hard or impossible to secure every thing on kernel mode even you did it give you trouble so its better to create different (xen vs kvm+ harden linux environments for web apps ) and environments (xen vs kvm+ linux environments for secure apps to run smoothly) even if one xen somehow comprise it blocked by Intel Trusted Execution Technology (TXT).

    http://www.intel.com/technology/malwarereduction/index.htm

    in worst case which i doubted if its is possible to dodge (TXT) that thing in real world

    but even if that happens still you are in virtual xen

    sorry i give above example of windows sandboxie with pre-set and tight rules to make it simple i know its kinda same yet very different in linux environment

    Qubes OS video on youtube

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeKMNc6SUNk
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blWjjbhBOU

    this thing i always miss in linux although there is selinux sandbox but its much more than that and looks pretty simple to use

    awesome stuff thanks guys for sharing :thumb:

    wonder the same question

    Is there a blue pill or red pill for Qubes OS?.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Pill_(malware)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_pill#Other_uses
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2011
  7. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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  8. Meriadoc

    Meriadoc Registered Member

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    Just try it to get an informed opinion :)
     
  9. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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  10. lodore

    lodore Registered Member

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    Hmm ive just read this im shocked that xorg allows all applictions to have full access rights regardless of user accounts. surely that makes any operating system using xorg really unsecure? do other display servers act the way way for example wayland?

    I like the idea of qubes but the minimum requirements are high and im sure it would require quite alot of learning.

    I dont think most people on here would need that sort of security. heck most of us could run any operating system without any form of security software and use a root /admin account all the time with no issues.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2011
  11. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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    Qubes OS represents more or less the gold standard of security that M$ should have designed with security aforethought from the start of its Windows line of computer OSes.

    The sad truth is we all need the kind of security that Qubes OS represents - and if it were possible for "most of us could run any operating system without any form of security software and use a root /admin account all the time with no issues" - then no malware would exist - a pipe dream by any other name!

    -- Tom
     
  12. Searching_ _ _

    Searching_ _ _ Registered Member

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    Each "Qube" requires 400mb to run so is the reason for the high memory requirement.
    I think maybe 3 qubes are running minimum at startup.
    I only have 2gb so not sure if I would try it out. DDR3 is getting pretty cheap now though, so maybe upgrading isn't a bad idea.
     
  13. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    It's far from consumer-friendly though.
     
  14. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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  15. korben

    korben Registered Member

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    Both from Polska - yey!

    Fall 2011 - and we've got something to wait for.
     
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