NT vs. Unix DNS

Joseph S D Yao jsdy at cospo.osis.gov
Thu Apr 20 15:18:15 UTC 2000


On Thu, Apr 20, 2000 at 10:58:04AM +0100, Jim Reid wrote:
> Indeed. [And I'm no security professional either.] However even having
> access to the source code might not be enough. Has anyone else read
> Ken Thompson's "Reflections on Trusting Trust" paper that was in CACM
> ~15 years ago?

Yes.  And how many software writers since Ken write both the compilers
and a majority of the software?  ;-]

David's point is quite right, and is shared by security professionals -
especially in the more security-sensitive spots of code.  If the source
code is open for inspection, there is less opportunity for malicious
insertions.  This has been discussed to death in mailing lists devoted
to that sort of thing.  It doesn't mean that it won't happen.  Nor do I
believe that only one in a million DON'T add back doors.  [And I'm not
talking about hooks for testing that are taken out after the development
phase.  Any good software engineer or very good programmer will do that,
and will remember to take them out before shipping.]

-- 
Joe Yao				jsdy at cospo.osis.gov - Joseph S. D. Yao
COSPO/OSIS Computer Support					EMT-B
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