Novell Dismisses AppArmor Developer

Oct 12, 2007

Two years after acquiring the company that developed AppArmor Novell has dismissed the developer behind the security technology.

The AppArmor Linux security technology is mainly the brainchild of one man: Crispin Cowan, the founder and CEO of Immunix, which was acquired by Novell two years ago. Cowan has now confirmed his dismissal, effective as of September 28; four other people working on the project were dismissed at the same time He was surprised by the decision at the time, says Crispin; he had received salary increases and bonus payments right up to the end. Novell has been unwilling to comment on this move, thus far. Cowan has joined forces with two other people affected by the dismissals, Steve Beattie and Dominic Reynolds to found a new consultancy agency called Mercenary Linux which will focus on AppArmor development and technologies.

Hired, fired and now his own boss again: AppArmor developer Crispin Cowan.

Novell uses AppArmor in its enterprise distribution, Suse Linux Enterprise Server, and intends to carry on updating the software and releasing it on Novell websites. In 2006, Novell released AppArmor as an Open Source technology, and the development process has changed considerably since then. Crispin does not think it is sufficient to leave development of AppArmor up to the community, and is looking for sponsors for the security technology. He would also be happy to sell his new company, with its portfolio of AppArmor services, if a sponsor is interested.

Besides Novell, Canonical, the company behind the free Ubuntu Linux distribution, will be using AppArmor for its next Ubuntu version; and the new Mandriva Linux 2008 distribution also includes the security solution. In contrast to this, Red Hat relies on the competing technology, Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux).

Related content

  • AppArmor vs. SELinux

    Security Enhanced Linux or App Armor? Linux Magazine invited two well-known personalities from Red Hat and Novell to debate the merits of their security systems.

    more »
  • AppArmor

    After penetrating a remote system, intruders might think they are home and dry, but AppArmor spoils the fun, locking the miscreants in a virtual cage.

    more »
  • AppArmor

    Today's security environment is a tumultuous landscape riddled with threats. AppArmor offers an extra ring of protection for your system, and it is easier to learn and implement than many alternative mandatory access control solutions.

    more »
  • AppArmor

    When an attacker succeeds in infecting a victim’s system, the attacker inherits the victim’s privileges. App Armor beats the attack by reducing the potential victim’s privileges to a minimum.

    more »
  • Rootkits and Linux Security

    Your Linux system may not be so airtight after all. To understand the threats, you need to think like an intruder. We'll show you what the intruders are thinking now about the Linux 2.6 kernel.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Issue 41: Linux Shell Handbook 2021 Edition/Special Editions

Buy this issue as a PDF

Digital Issue: Price $15.99
(incl. VAT)

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source