Today, having secure information technology is absolutely necessary for a successful business. The amount of money spent on security by businesses is higher than it has ever been. The urgent requirement for change in the information security domain is being brought to light by recent developments in hacking and security technologies such as intrusion detection systems, honey pots, honey nets, and other diverse security-related hardware and software solutions.
Global enterprise security is improving as a result of an increased awareness on the benefits of risk assessment and the realization that security is one of the driving forces for digital transformation. Both of these factors are contributing to the improvement. You can easily understand the concept of software and hardware.
The conflict between open-source software and software with proprietary origins has been going on for a very long time. Both the plaintiff and the defendant are investigating and analyzing a wide range of issues and worries at this time. In the most recent stage of this fanatical dispute, both sides have shown a great deal of tenacity in examining the problem of security.
History of Open-Source Software:
Since its inception in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the term “open-source” has been popular. This popularity is the result of a revolution known as the “open-source revolution,” which completely revamped the way software is developed, ultimately leading to the birth of the community-generated software development method.
Richard Stallman, then a young software engineer at Harvard, joined the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1971 with the intention of developing computing platforms. His motivation was to work on developing artificial intelligence. After only a few years of operation in the early 1980s, the MIT Lab was forced to close its doors due to the proliferation of proprietary software in the business world, and many of its skilled software engineers were recruited by privately held technology companies.
Stallman, who was intimately involved in the field and was familiar with the software requirements of customers, held the belief that customers should be given sufficient agency to enable them to fix and debug the software on their own rather than merely operate it.
History of Proprietary Software:
Software that is owned by an individual, a company, or both is referred to as proprietary software. As with any other type of product, it is, as a result, governed by laws pertaining to intellectual property, and no one other than its author or owner has any say in how it evolves. The production of proprietary software offers a transparent model for conducting business, in which the owners sell their product and generate revenue.
In the 1960s, when computer software was still in its infancy, computers were completely different from what they are today. They were enormous machines that required an entire room, which also needed to be kept at a specific temperature. Due to the high cost of the computers, corporate clients typically opted to lease them rather than purchase them.
The computers’ primary function was the processing of large amounts of data. The computer manufacturers supplied not only the computers but also all of the software that was installed on the computers, as well as the source code.
Customers who developed software on these computers would then give the software away free of charge to other customers. It was common practice, especially in research centers and universities, to do things in this manner so that students and researchers could fix bugs or add new functions.
Is it true that open-source software offers a higher level of protection than proprietary software?
Is there a correlation between using open-source software and increased safety? Of course not. You must take a piece-by-piece approach when examining the safety features and track record of each and every piece of software.
When looking into the safety of a product, you should always look at its version history and investigate any security problems that have occurred in the product’s past. It’s possible that you’ll come across an impartial organization that can vouch for the safety of a product, certificates that demonstrate the product’s dependability, or a respected coworker who can assure you that the product in question is the most advantageous alternative currently available.
In addition, you will be able to view the tools that established companies in the industry, as well as your partners and competitors, are utilizing. For example, 500px and Airbnb have chosen to build their platforms on Ruby on Rails; this fact alone is a strong indication that this framework is reliable enough for use by startups.
It’s possible that proprietary software is your best option, or that a combination of proprietary and open source tools is the optimal solution for your needs (a popular approach taken by Facebook and Google, for instance). It is imperative that you base your choice on research and steer clear of making decisions based on preconceived notions or prejudices.
Final Words:
Due to the many different dangers that could arise, website security has always been a factor that has slowed down the process of digital transformation and made it more difficult to survive. Software with an open source license can be viewed as a more appropriate solution than software with a closed source license or a proprietary license.
In addition, the findings of this report suggest that there is a clear desire among businesses to implement open-source technology and also to place a priority on the job of improving the level of security within their organization.