Article View: gnu.emacs.help
Article #189500Re: Backdoor rumor
From: Jay Sekora
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 1991 18:06
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 1991 18:06
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jym@AI.MIT.EDU (Jym Dyer) writes: >___ >__ Think how silly this rumor is. GNU Emacs is distributed with >_ source. If there was a backdoor, it would be discovered right > away. Well, no, not right away necessarily. The security hole in a previous version (or patchlevel; I'm not quite sure) over GNU Emacs (cf. THE CUCKOO'S EGG, by Clifford Stoll), and the security hole in sendmail that permitted the Morris worm were not discovered right away. And they were discovered by people who exploited them before they were discovered by security-minded sysadmins. Although yes, they were discovered because source was available :-) -- _____________________________________________________________________ Jay Sekora | internet: js@princeton.edu Information Centers Consultant | bitnet: js@pucc.bitnet Princeton University | phone 609/258-6007
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X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103b8b,f9625cb2bdcc701c X-Google-Attributes: gid103b8b,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1991-01-30 14:48:22 PST Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!samsung!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!gatech!purdue!haven!udel!princeton!sidney.Princeton.EDU!js From: js@sidney.Princeton.EDU (Jay Sekora) Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help Subject: Re: Backdoor rumor Message-ID: <5809@idunno.Princeton.EDU> Date: 30 Jan 91 18:06:13 GMT References: <9101251838.AA12154@geech.ai.mit.edu> Sender: news@idunno.Princeton.EDU Reply-To: js@Princeton.EDU Organization: Princeton University Computing and Information Technology Lines: 19