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This is a difficult question to answer because I don't know what your security requirements are or what you are trying to protect against. Bastille and SELinux perform two quite different functions. Bastille is a hardening tool that secures elements of Linux/Unix-based operating systems. It is generally run once or perhaps twice a month to ensure the hardening settings are maintained. As such it's a fairly low-maintenance control, but it only secures a limited set of configuration items.
Alternatively, SELinux is a mandatory access control tool that can monitor all processes on your host and block activities that are inappropriate, or outside a specified policy. It runs inside the kernel, and requires configuration and generally some ongoing management. It is a much more comprehensive and complex control with a correspondingly greater overhead. As a control, and if configured correctly, SELinux has the potential to be highly effective in blocking attackers' attempts to compromise your hosts.
So selecting which control to implement really depends on:
a) What your security requirements are, and
b) What capacity and capability you have to implement and manage security controls.
This was first published in June 2008
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