Security Concerns in Using Open Source Software for Enterprise Requirements

Information security is the biggest challenge for network and security administrators. The security of a given network highly depends on the software used and the administrative practices followed for operating systems, perimeter security, antivirus protection, intrusion detection, software development, systems and network monitoring, corporate mail, office productivity and so on. The rapid growth in Internet has resulted in several open source development communities. The collaborative effort of these communities has made it possible to have open source alternatives for almost all proprietary (also known as closed source) software. This paper highlights the security concerns of the end users in considering open source software for their enterprise requirements. This paper also highlights the risks pertaining to open source software and recommends certain guidelines following which these risks can be mitigated. These guidelines would help an end user to thoroughly evaluate open source software before they are considered for mission-critical functions.