Messages in this thread | | | Date | Tue, 16 May 2006 06:56:05 -0700 | From | Marc Perkel <> | Subject | Re: Wiretapping Linux? |
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Steven Rostedt wrote: > On Tue, 16 May 2006, Marc Perkel wrote: > > >> As most of you know the United States is tapping you telephone calls and >> tracking every call you make. The next logical step is to start tapping >> your computer implanting spyware into operating systems. Since Windows >> and OS-X are proprietary this can be done more easilly with the >> cooperation of Microsoft and Apple. >> >> So what about Linux? With thousands of people working on the Kernel if >> someone from the NSA wanted to slip a back door into the Kernel, could >> the do that? >> > > Well, yes and no. > > It's highly unlikely that it would get into the kernel. Definitely not > kernel.org, since all patches are public. > > But it's not the kernel that you have to always worry about. But it's > what you install. Especially as root. > > There's so much free stuff out there, that people download and install > blindly, that I'm sure if someone wanted to really badly, they could get > it on some boxes. If they were slime and added something to a binary, > and supplied the source without the backdoor, that might last a while. > Unless you compile everything yourself, it's not easy to make sure that > all binaries came from the source you have. > > But there are a lot of hackers out there (the good kind, not the crackers > that the press call "hackers"). And they are aways looking at things > and breaking them to see how they work. > > So, really, I doubt anyone could really get a lot on lots of people's > Linux boxes. But, if we ever had an evil Debian maintainer, that allowed > it, then it might happen. But that would usually be discovered rather > quickly. > > -- Steve > >
Thanks for your reply Steve. I've thought it would be discovered but thought I'd ask the question anyway just to make sure. But - do you think if OS-X or Windows had a government hack that it would be discovered. I know it would be discovered as easilly, but I wonder if that would get noticed?
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