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| December 1999 | Get BSD | New to BSD? | Search BSD | Submit News | FAQ | Contact Us | Join Us |
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December 1, 1999; Calgary, Canada -- OpenBSD announced today the launch of OpenBSD 2.6, the first computer operating system to integrate the free open source OpenSSH secure communication tools in the base system. Already regarded by many security experts as the most secure OS on the Internet, OpenBSD now comes even closer to being "Secure by Default".
"We've been trying for over two years to build a free version of SSH to ship with the system" says Theo de Raadt, OpenBSD project leader. "We now have a complete, secure and stable system to work from, and we're looking to tackle some large projects like SMP".
OpenBSD's "Secure by Default" configuration is an overworked administrator's best friend, enabling him or her to quickly set up an Internet server and run it with confidence in an increasingly dangerous Internet. An ongoing thorough audit of the source code for sloppy coding practices and security risks is OpenBSD's recipe for 'hardening' the OS.
Michael Paddon, chief technical officer for eSec Limited, a leading e-commerce security provider in Australia, says all of eSec's mission critical functions now rely on OpenBSD: firewalls, electronic commerce, VPN's and basic internet services.
"Our systems people have confidence in the system and our customers like the functionality and the uptime", says Paddon. "Without our OpenBSD firewall, we'd be roadkill on the infobahn. Yesterday we were probed and attacked over 3000 times, from nearly 500 distinct sources. Thanks to the OpenBSD project, we're still in business."
In addition to OpenSSH, OpenBSD integrates a full complement of strong cryptographic algorithms to further enhance the security of the operating system. The OS is published in Canada and all crypto development is done outside the USA to avoid the US government's export prohibitions.
Based on UC Berkeley's 4.4BSD-Lite, OpenBSD 2.6 was developed by a team of Internet volunteers. OpenBSD 2.6 operates on multiple hardware platforms like PCs, SPARC and Mac68K. OpenBSD is free, reusable software, available on the Internet under a Berkeley-style license. All development is funded by donations and the sale of CD-ROMs and T-shirts. Commercial support is available from third party contractors and companies.
OpenBSD on the Web:
http://www.OpenBSD.org/
About OpenSSH: http://www.OpenSSH.com/
What they say about OpenBSD:
http://www.OpenBSD.org/press.html
Press Contact:
Louis Bertrand louis@openbsd.org
Press relations
Toronto, Canada
Theo de Raadt deraadt@openbsd.org
Project leader
Calgary, Canada
Sales:
http://www.OpenBSD.org/orders.html
The Computer Shop, Calgary, Canada
Telephone: (403) 243-4356 (Mon-Fri 9-5 Mountain time)
Fax: (403) 243-2684