Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Canonical expands application security coverage

news
Oct 6, 20222 mins

Ubuntu Pro, now offered in public beta, features expanded security maintenance and compliance for a wide range of packages, including Node.js, Apache Tomcat, and Rust.

Cybersecurity

Canonical is offering a public beta of Ubuntu Pro, providing Ubuntu Linux users expanded security maintenance and compliance for software ranging from the Node.js runtime to Python 2 and Rust.

Security coverage will be expanded for critical, high, and medium common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) to thousands of applications and toolchains, including Ansible, Apache Tomcat, Apache Zookeeper, Docker, Drupal, Node.js, Puppet, Python 2, Rust, and others. A free 30-day trial is available for enterprise customers. Ubuntu Pro is offered for data centers and workstations, with a free tier offered for personal and small-scale use.

The company said that since it launched Ubuntu LTS with five years of free security for the main operating system, enterprise customers have asked it to cover more of the open source landscape under private commercial agreements. These benefits are now being offered free of charge to anyone with a free personal Ubuntu Pro subscription. Ubuntu Pro also can be combined with 24/7 enterprise-grade coverage for the Ubuntu operating system. Infrastructure such as Kubernetes and OpenStack also can be covered.

Initial application support consists of more than 30 upstream applications, including Kafka, Kubeflow, OpenJDK, PostgreSQL, and Vault. In the security vein, Ubuntu Pro users can access FIPS 140-2 certified cryptographic packages, necessary for all federal government agencies and organizations operating under compliance regimes such as FedRAMP and HIPAA.

Ubuntu Pro is available for every Ubuntu long-term support release from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. The standard Ubuntu Pro subscription covers security updates for all packages in Ubuntu. Also, Canonical’s Ubuntu Advantage for Infrastructure subscription has been rebranded to Ubuntu Pro (Infra-only) with no changes in price or scope. The Infra-Only subscription covers the base operating sytem and private cloud components needed for large-scale, bare-metal deployments while excluding broader application coverage.

Ubuntu Pro paid plans are priced at $25 per year for a workstation or $500 per year for a server. On public clouds, Ubunto Pro costs roughly 3.5% of the average underlying compute cost.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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