New Dazuko brings more security to Linux operating systems

PRESS RELEASE



More Security for Linux Operating Systems with "Dazuko"

Premier of the world's first on-access virus scanner for FreeBSD - a
universal interface for "3rd party applications" is in sight


Tettnang (GER), 6 February 2004 - The "Dazuko" kernel module, developed by
the open source community together with the German security specialists
H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH, is now available for the FreeBSD high-end operating
system. With help from this module, on-access virus scanners as well as other
3rd-party security tools can be integrated with Linux and now FreeBSD.


After 8 months of intense development by John Ogness (the technical "father"
of the Dazuko project) comes the release of version 2.0.0 of Dazuko, which
led to the world's first "virus guard" for the Unix-derived FreeBSD. This big
step was made possible thanks to the assistance of the open source community.
In particular, the extended test phase and the many pre-releases contributed
substantially to a short development time measured against the maturity of
the code.

The kernel module from H+BEDV was originally a "plug-in" for the AntiVir for
Linux Server product and provides effective protection for Linux-based files
since 2002. With version 2.0.0 is the Dazuko interface for any 3rd-party
security and monitoring application available. This gives Dazuko the chance
to become a universal interface for the entire Linux community.

As an example, the kernel module could be used in conjunction with security
tools to determine statistics about files being accessed or protecting data
on the hard drive. With each accessed file comes various file information
(for example, type of access, process ID, user ID, etc). This information is
delivered to a 3rd-party application for investigation. Depending on the
results determined by the application, the file access can be allowed or
denied.

The Dazuko project is available for both Linux users and developers. Aside
from the possibility of becoming a standard interface for 3rd-party file
access control, this project furthers the robustness and security of Linux
systems. 
 
Although H+BEDV will be leading the project and will continue producing their
own commercial software, Dazuko is Free Software and is not subject to
ownership of any single entity. Rather, each organization has the freedom to
develop their own Dazuko-based products for Linux and FreeBSD.


Development Timeline:

5 Feb 2002:
first release of Dazuko with version 1.0.0 as open source (GPL)
28 Feb 2002:
release of version 1.0.1 with an interface available in C
8 Jan 2003:
release of 1.1.2, developed entirely by the open source community - RedHat
support (with hidden system calls), DevFS support
5 May 2003:
release of 1.2.0 with cascading enabling the integration of multiple virus
scanners (or other applications); interface in Java made available; interface
moved to BSD license
18 Sep 2003:
release of 1.2.2 with thread-safe interface and a "configure script" for easy
installation
4 Feb 2003:
release of 2.0.0 with abstraction layer for easy porting to other systems,
full FreeBSD support, more file access events and file access information,
revision of internal structures, new design for better extendability and
improved stability


For more information about H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH and AntiVir(r), visit:
www.antivir.de

or contact:

H+BEDV Datentechnik GmbH
Detlef Langrock / John Ogness
Lindauer Straße 21
88069 Tettnang, Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 7542-500-0
Fax: +49 (0) 7542-525 10
E-mail: dlangrock@antivir.de / jogness@antivir.de
www.antivir.de


onpact AG
Jürgen Wollenschneider
Forstenrieder Alleee 194
81476 Munich, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 89-759003-124
Fax: +49 (0) 89-759003-10
E-mail: wollenschneider@onpact.de
www.onpact.de