Les <hlhowell <at> pacbell.net> writes: > ... > I don't see the message you are responding to, but what do you think > would justify a back door? The response is to a "revelation" about a backdoor (real or imagined). As a matter of fact, it was made public, with names named, without any backing it up. To me it has a trash value. I am not for putting a backdoor in every piece of software, so that some authority feels safe and in control. I did express my opinion that there are circumstances (I qualified them) that would justify inserting a backdoor. They are not common; they are exceptional. > And are you including administrative > operations a back door? Is it impossible to administer a properly > designed system without a back door? I agree with you - there is no place for a backdoor to administer a system. And I mean a system subject to standard purchase and maintenance agreement. In special situations it is up to the software seller/service provider and purchaser to make it a part of a contract between parties to have e.g. a maintenance/debugging access to it. Official, and restricted in access. > Some times good intentions and even debugging leads us astray. Code > gets "left behind" that should not, or enabled when it should not, or > even inadvertently promulgated when it should not. That's something different. If you are a software development house and you need a backdoor (unofficial access) to debug it, either in house or at client site, something is wrong with your business, and ethics too. > It has been shown that software can be developed and built into a > compiler that will insert a back door into any code compiled by it. The > original intention was debugging, but the technique has other > applications, not all good. > > Do you know if your code includes such a back door? How would you > detect it? I do not. And I do not pretend to. My view is, everybody should assume that their software is not 100% secure, up front. It will liberate them. They will not fall into a trap. The only thing secure and in our control is our head (our mind, our thoughts). JB -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
