- MarissaBrand
- gordman
- mithunsarker
- Kim07
- Ralph Waldren
[US] Open Source Development & Review Process Thwarts Backdoor Security Hack
Article from SecurityFocus.com (English)
From the article:
"...the hack is a glimpse of a more sophisticated computer underground than is normally talked about, and fuel for speculation that backdoors in software products are far more common than imagined."
We've covered the designed-in and accidental security holes in Windows. We've pointed out that this can be very serious business, especially as it may even affect national security where software is used in government offices. No one can say at this point how many accidental or designed security problems there are in proprietary, closed-source software. The important thing to understand is that there is a far better chance that such problems will be uncovered more quickly with the peer review process inherent in the Open Source development cycle. Chalk up another substantial and substantive victory for FLOSS.
Willy Smith reporting from Costa Rica
Re: [US] Open Source Development & Review Process Thwarts Backdo
Some governments may already have backdoors into operating systems. This viewpoint has been expressed by governments of countries contemplating the use of Microsoft Windows for sensitive information. That makes me wonder about the motivation for this attempted crack of Linux. Also, is this the first attempt? Have other attempts succeeded in the past? If a backdoor has gotten into the code base, what are the chances of detecting it now?