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Editorial comment: Scary hackers
From: InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 21:12:12 -0500
http://markets.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT332XA3XEC&live=true Published: October 29 2000 19:47GMT Last Updated: October 29 2000 19:55GMT Scary stories are being told about how computer hackers infiltrated Microsoft's internal network. But if the company is correct they merely wandered around the network and looked at the source code for a future product. There is little in this to chill the spine, even around Hallowe'en. The worrying part is the thought that hackers may have copied or sabotaged the secret source code for its programs. The company says no important code - such as that for the Windows operating system - was copied, and no programs were damaged or altered. But what if they had been? Many groups, such as Microsoft, see intellectual property as their core asset, to be kept under wraps at all costs. If those secrets become publicly known, surely they have lost their value? No. Microsoft's strengths stem not from the individual techniques of its programmers but from its ability to design products skilfully, manage the process of creation, and exploit its brand. None of these is threatened by knowledge of the company's source code. A weaker software group might gain some benefit from knowing the source code for Windows or Word but it would not be transformed into a second Microsoft. The value of intellectual property lies not in the property itself but in the human systems that create and exploit it and the legal rights to use the property. Without those systems and rights, intellectual property is worthless. So, even if all Microsoft's source code is now on a hard disk in St Petersburg, the hackers may find it hard to extract much commercial benefit. The fear of sabotage has greater resonance. The worry is that access to Microsoft's network could have allowed hackers to subtly modify source code, making later releases of Microsoft's programs damaged or vulnerable. Even inspecting the source code might make it easier for hackers to attack computers around the world. This is an exaggerated fear - and in any case the company says it did not happen. But it reveals public concern about over-reliance on Microsoft. If Windows were only one of a number of competing operating systems, the possibility that it might become vulnerable would be a minor inconvenience. Anyone seriously worried by the threat could simply switch. The knowledge that there is no practical alternative gives such fears their power. Resentment about this dependence was one of the motives for the recent Microsoft antitrust case. Like all ghost stories, this one has a deeper message: beware over-reliance on a single set of programs, and a single set of programmers. ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".
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