Open source software 'can alleviate security risks'

Open source software could help to alleviate the increasing risks posed by hackers, according to an IT researcher.

In battling security threats, providers also need to remember that their measures cannot be too restrictive as user requirements need to be taken into account, Shane Wright, technical director of eDigitalResearch said.

While he recommended that businesses seeking a more secure platform for online browsing should try open source technologies, he commented: 'This isn't really security through obscurity - its increased security through using a minority tool that has less 'hacker attention' focused on it, and so there are less likely to be known vulnerabilities, whether published or otherwise.