The systems operations are very important for our liveseither because we use it to carry out our educational or work activities, or because we simply use it as a means for our entertainment.
Like everything that really matters to us, We must take care and prevent it from being damaged at all costs, and in the case of computer resources, prevent it from being infected or that it has wormholes that give way to constant attacks.
these holes, are caused by vulnerabilities of the system. If you do not know what a system vulnerability is, or how to correct it, do not be discouraged, because you have arrived the best place to learn it.
What is an operating system vulnerability and what are the risks?
Operating systems and major recognized applicationsintegrate security problemsit can be said that most of the programs, due to their imperfection, have a small weakness gapwhich we give you the vulnerability name. These security problems are of great impact on all operating systems or software, however, can seriously affect the function.
A skilled hacker can take advantage of these, and possess our PC or extract information really important as they are, bank accounts and credit cards. In a general definition, vulnerability is that failure, or error that is born in an operating system, induced or naturally. These are gaps that allow the attack to enter with complete ease, and violate confidentiality of all our files, accesses and system.
Mostly these failures are naturaldue to programming errors during the design of some software, however, these can be fully controlled. Like the vulnerabilities that are generated naturally, there are those induced, either by a third party, or by the limitations of the technology, for which a program was originally designed.
Until now I know know two types of vulnerabilities, one distinguished as theoretical vulnerability and the other real. The latter is the most important and well-known among users, also called Exploit. The Exploits, They are the type of vulnerability that appear in applications or operating systems, but that can be controlled or corrected with the help of some patch or Hotfixs. On other occasions, as in the case of the OS, the system update is simply expected, and it is automatically dissipated.
List of main vulnerabilities in modern operating systems
As we already mentioned, vulnerabilities are present in any system or software.
If you still do not know which ones are affecting your system, then we will name the main vulnerabilities, in the different OS:
Windows
windows it is the most famous operating systemand despite the fact that it is constantly including updates to mitigate vulnerabilities, new ones are always found.
The main ones are the following:
- servers and services Web
- Workstation service Windows Remote Access Services Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL)
- Authentication Windows
- Browsers (Edge)
- Applications one to one exchange (P2P)
- LSAS (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service)
- Customers of e-mail (outlook)
- Instant messaging programs (Skyped)
The countermeasures to control these vulnerabilitieswhile we wait for the system update, they can be; disable all previews and the details pane in windows explorer, just like the one for the service WebClient, and rename or disable the “atmfd.dll”
android
In Android we can find different vulnerabilities that can seriously compromise the health of our device, as well as the confidentiality of all our stored files.
Its main flaws or vulnerabilities are the following:
- Failures in the Qualcomm: This is the default controller, which allows control of wireless networks, specifically in tethering. Any hacker can create a wormhole and access our mobile through these failures.
- Android versions 4.0.3 – 4-4-4 are totally vulnerable to computer attacks, making them the target of many attackers.
- Google Play app infection. These are known as adware, and they are highly dangerous, since they can totally compromise the health of our device.
From macOS
According to the opinion of many experts, the operating system Mac OSis one of the safest and although it has some vulnerabilities, the attacker must be a complete expert on the subject, to access and extract information.
Let’s see next:
- credential theft: since always the operating system of macOS has highlighted identification flaws as one of its main vulnerabilities, allowing hackers to extract user data including their credentials.
- Failures in defense mechanisms: Filippo Cavallarin has detected in his latest research, weaknesses in the defense mechanism of MacOS, ensuring that this system can be circumvented.
- Outdated EFIS: The EFIS they are not always fully updated, and as we must understand, an outdated system or software is a gap for an attack.
From iOS
According to studies carried out by renowned security companies, Android are the devices more prone to attacks due to their security flawshowever, in the researchers’ analyzes of ZecOps, It has been discovered that there are two major threats that can allow attackers access to extract information.
The vulnerabilities found are activated by email messageswhich is sent by the attacker, and its activation is only possible, when the user makes use of the default mail application.
These vulnerabilities have the following names:
- Out-of-bounds Write (OOB Write)
- Remote Heap Overflow
If these failures are present in iOS devicesall the information contained by the user is fully engaged.
from linux
The open source operating system, It also has some flaws in its design.like Windows, There are updates that remove them, however, there are some that persist.
The most common vulnerabilities in most versions of Linux are the following:
- BIND DNS (Domain Name System)
- Web server
- Authentication
- systems of control of versions
- Mail Transport Service
- SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
- OpenSSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
- wrong configuration from NIS/NFS
- Database
- kernel
How to correct the vulnerabilities of an operating system? Always keep it updated!
The most important requirement to maintain a team with the minimum number of vulnerabilities, is by updating our systems and applications to their latest versions. For example, if we have our operating system in its latest version, it will not receive direct threats, but it will receive threats from the program that is working with an outdated version.
Other ways to fix bugs and vulnerabilities are: keeping our file system clean of errors, and viruses For this, a good antivirus is required. Although well, as we have already repeated if the antimalware we use is not up to date, it will miss many bugs and threats.
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