Re: [ISN] China next to get access to Microsoft source code

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Tue Mar 11 2003 - 02:48:24 PST

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    Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 06:40:12 -0500
    From: Brooks Isoldi <bjisoldiat_private>
    
    As much as I hate to defend Microsoft, we can't damn them if they do
    AND damn them if they don't.  The Open Source community has been
    wanting Microsoft to open its code.  It's doing so on a very limited
    basis, to governments only, maybe industry reliant on Microsoft
    frameworks next. However, if Microsoft did this on a completely open
    basis...China would still have access to it.  But...Sources and
    Techniques was a great document and a good read.  Perhaps Sidewinder
    would be another good read :-)
    
    
    Brooks Isoldi
    The Intelligence Network
    http://www.intellnet.org
    877-581-3724 [Voicemail/Fax]
    
    
    -=-
    
    
    Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 16:55:43 +0100
    From: "leon @ kuunders" <leonat_private>
    
    > Russia, the U.K. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have
    > already signed up to participate in the GSP, and Microsoft is in
    > talks with more than 30 countries, territories and organizations
    > about the program.
    
    I don't know, but with a lot of "hacks" originating from Russia and
    China, it doesn't seem like a wise idea to hand over a "smoking gun"
    to these countries. I can think of numerous "what .. if" scenario's in
    which knowledge of the source code of the #1 computer desktop
    environment can be used to exploit these programs.
    
    If Microsoft is handing the source to these countries, they might as
    well publish it completely on the internet.
    
    --Leon.
    
    
    -=-
    
    
    Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 02:56:04 -0600 (CST)
    From: Anonymous
    
    The Chinese already have access to the source code.  Microsoft
    maintains an internal gateway to their office in Beijing from which
    the employees in China can freely explore the MS internal network in
    Redmond.
    
    This became painfully clear when, in 1999, I traced a connection to my
    build machine (an Alpha 21164 Rawhide) back to the Beijing gateway
    from a chinese hacking tool called proxyhunter.  This was in July of
    1999.  The PAL and HAL code for the Alpha family of processors was
    compromised (stolen) from my build machine.  I reported this to MS,
    they did nothing.  I reported this to my superiors at Digital.  There
    was nothing they could do, the source code was gone.  Compaq had just
    purchased Digital and by the end of August, NT on the Alpha platform
    was history.  In October of 1999 the PRC announced that they had
    cloned the Alpha processor (a great achievement, right?) and fairly
    soon afterwards began testing ICBMs that could reach the US from
    China.
    
    Plenty of people already have access to the source code for Windows.  
    The question is, why would you want it?
    
    
    
    
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