[Tpost] Qubes OS Release Enhances Security Via Domain Isolation

[MultiUser]

Qubes OS Release Enhances Security Via Domain Isolation

With the deluge of malware and advanced attacks continuing unabated, security approaches that sandbox applications or isolate processes are garnering increased attention. Researcher Joanna Rutkowska and Invisible Things Lab were the latest to go in that direction with the official release on Tuesday of the Qubes operating system.

Qubes 1.0 is an open source OS that implements lightweight Xen virtual machines as isolated domains to enhance security. It has been in the works since 2010 and offers users the ability to designate isolated virtual domains for different purposes, such as banking, personal or professional use. Rutkowska said IT can designate security policies for each domain, defining for example which has access to networking or is able to copy files.

“We decided to delegate security decisions to the user because I don't believe we could come up with good enough automatic security policing, e.g., creating a new virtual machine for each new user's task,” Rutkowska said in an email interview with Threatpost. “We decided it would be better for the user to explicitly define the domains, as well as various security policies that govern their usage.”

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