Re: [RFC 0/5] [TALPA] Intro to a linux interface for on accessscanning

From: Alan Cox
Date: Tue Aug 05 2008 - 08:41:33 EST


> Remember, the big issue here isn't the kernel "hooks", but the fact that
> a lot of people are yet to be convinced that something like this needs
> to be within the kernel itself.

Mostly the same people who said that about LSM I note 8)

> Perhaps we should dig up the proposals for the filesystem-notify type
> patches, something like that might be all the majority of the virus
> people need, as they want to just scan things for Windows viruses, not
> Linux ones, and to do so "lazily" might be sufficient.

The key difference between a lazy scan and an active intervention is tiny
- the ability to block in the security decision to open a file.

Once you have that bit you have the ability to hand the file handle up to
a daemon to chew on and return a status. The same co-incidentally gives
you the hooks for doing various kinds of HSM as you can block an open
while you retrieve the archived content from wherever it was warehoused.

Alan
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