Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion

Posted Jan 3, 2014 8:58 UTC (Fri) by marcH (subscriber, #57642)
In reply to: Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion by bojan
Parent article: Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion

> Your theory is basically they they are hiding in plain sight. Well, I would say that if they were actually trying that, they selected the wrong target audience - which is essentially a group of hackers - people that can read code.

I does not look like the NSA is "selecting" any target in particular.

Sure open-source must be among the most difficult targets in everything they do but you don't think that's enough to stop them trying, do you?

Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion

Posted Jan 4, 2014 2:14 UTC (Sat) by vonbrand (subscriber, #4458) [Link] (2 responses)

If they are oh so smart and have truckloads of money to waste, why would they go after the Linux kernel, Red Hat, SELinux, and systemd only? Why not also bribe/blackmail a gaggle of Debian developers, some folks around Slackware, a few in the Python crowd, selected Ruby enthusiasts, and the list can go on for a long time?

This whole conspiracy theory makes litke sense if they don't try to target open source in general (at least they should be taking a stab at the more popular systems). And doing that in turn is way too expensive for little gain. Just purchase a few 0-day exploits, or have a few CS interns look for vulnerabilities. Much cheaper, quite effective given the right tools and and enough compute power (unfortunately), nearly zero risk of getting caught.

Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion

Posted Jan 4, 2014 11:24 UTC (Sat) by smurf (subscriber, #17840) [Link]

The point is that a multi-pronged approach will yield better results overall. They improve their chances of *some* approach working – and if more than one would work, they can choose which has the better cost/benefit ratio.

They did not consider the cost to society when (not if) the whole kaboodle becomes public knowledge, but that seems to be an ingrained part of the military genome – neither did the a**hats back in the 60s who tried to talk Kennedy into a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union.

Positions forming in the Debian init system discussion

Posted Jan 4, 2014 11:27 UTC (Sat) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]

> This whole conspiracy theory...

There is absolutely no need to elaborate any conspiracy theory to justify that spy agencies are spying.

> And doing that in turn is way too expensive for little gain. Just purchase a few 0-day exploits, or have a few CS interns look for vulnerabilities. Much cheaper,...

I agree with your logic except for the "much cheaper" assertion. The same persons can be paid to do both. Why limit themselves? Whatever gets the job done.

I think the risk of getting caught is extremely small since developers write bugs all the time anyway.