Could Open Source Software Help Prevent Sabotage?

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Linux Today reader Miko Wakabayashi has been doing a little thinking about an article she just read:

This may not be directly releated to LINUX, but.... it underscores a point about software.

Imagine a Chinese agent working at Microsoft. How difficult do you think it would be to insert a little "backdoor" into a Windows .dll file or somewhere else? With the Government jumping into NT left and right, a secret backdoor or even an "easter egg" that shuts the system down on command could cripple our entire defense network, law enforcement and just about anything else. How much easier it would be to fight a war against an enemy whose computers are all crashed beyond repair?

They used to worry that the Soviets would detonate a nuclear device in the atmosphere causing an EMP spike to cripple our computer networks. If a spy inserted as little as 5 lines of code into every Windows system in the country, a signal could be broadcast over the internet to simultaneously crash every NT server and workstation with an internet connection.

Firewall be damned, it is NT based as well. With the dozens of "accidental" security holes in NT, how hard would it be to create one intentionally, and a trusted programmer in Redmond could do this easily and hide it fairly effectively.

In my opinion, articles like this as well as the Eeye announcement, absolutely requires that we insist the Government adopt Open Source software.

That way the agencies can control their own systems and it would be impossible to hide security holes and backdoors. Plus if one is uncovered, it can be fixed right away.

This is a scary article and can be used to promote the adoption of Linux in any enterprise.

Daniel Oran wrote a novel "Ulterior Motive" about "MegaSoft" inserting secret code into their operating system that enabled them to spy on people. Now we know Microsoft can do this and has already admitted to doing this. Can you imagine the implications of a spy having total access to the CIA, NSA, FBI, IRS, the Pentagon and every other agency? Think about it, then write your congressperson.