Message-Id: <200605170127.k4H1RLAS011291@turing-police.cc.vt.edu>
To: Marc Perkel <marc@perkel.com>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Wiretapping Linux?
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Tue, 16 May 2006 06:24:38 PDT."
             <4469D296.8060908@perkel.com>
From: Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu
References: <4469D296.8060908@perkel.com>
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On Tue, 16 May 2006 06:24:38 PDT, Marc Perkel said:
> 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?

Actually, if the NSA wanted to slip in a back door, they'd have done so
in the SELinux code. :)

As others have mentioned, the kernel code isn't the best place to try
to put a back door in, precisely because of the depth of scrutiny.  A
much more likely avenue is to backdoor some popular userspace code (as
did happen to Sendmail and OpenSSH within a few weeks of each other a
few years ago).

And then there's the Underhanded C Code contest:

http://www.brainhz.com/underhanded/

:)

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