[Ilugc] Modem updates or Hardening Guidelines
- From: mehul.n.ved@xxxxxxxxx (Mehul Ved)
- Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:56:09 +0530
On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Balasubramaniam Natarajan
<bala150985 at gmail.com> wrote:
Hi
I have always wondered that the ubuntu machine which I work with receives
lots of security updates, if so why not the modems which we use as it is
direcly on the line of fire. ?Are there any tips to harden the Modem which
we get from the local ISP ?
Some reasons which I believe deserve a mention
1. Distros like Ubuntu run off testing branch, if you'd use something
like Debian stable you'd have lesser updates.
2. A lot of updates you see are related to desktop software, which are
mostly feature updates or small fixes rather than security fixes. The
security fixes you receive are relatively lesser.
3. My little experience with embedded systems, which your routers
would fall under, are much more tightly bound together than desktop
distros so releasing updates for it is a relatively difficult task.
4. The companies producing these products are more of a hardware
company than software. They have little to no incentive to keep
providing regular software upgrades. They'd rather focus on quickly
releasing new hardware in the market.
If you combine all the 4 above reasons you'd see why it's uncommon to
see regular software updates to your modems/routers.
Think about how often do even smartphones receive security updates?
Mostly what you'd see are feature upgrades.
--
With Regards,
Mehul Ved
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