FCC Rules Open Source Code Is Less Secure

An anonymous reader writes "A new federal rule set to take effect Friday could mean that software radios built on 'open-source elements' may have trouble getting to market. Some US regulators have apparently come to the conclusion that, by nature, open source software is less secure than closed source. 'By effectively siding with what is known in cryptography circles as "security through obscurity," the controversial idea that keeping security methods secret makes them more impenetrable, the FCC has drawn an outcry from the software radio set and raised eyebrows among some security experts. "There is no reason why regulators should discourage open-source approaches that may in the end be more secure, cheaper, more interoperable, easier to standardize, and easier to certify," Bernard Eydt, chairman of the security committee for a global industry association called the SDR (software-defined radio) Forum, said in an e-mail interview this week.'"

Comments

Re:Well, they're technically correct, of course...

[Trillan]

no-one in their right minds would use an XOR cypher

/me shifts uncomfortably

C'mon, it was the early 90s, I was new at this programming thing, and my boss told me to do it...

At least I changed the constant away from 0x7F.

Decryption

[benhocking]

We've decrypted your text, and the FCC would like to inform you that we do not approve that sort of vulgarity! -the FCC

Re:Where's the NTFS writer then?

[Penguinisto]

...so if we all write crufty kludges instead of clean, elegant code we'll all be perfectly safe and secure?

Suddenly, I'm not so sure I'm gonna be able to get any sleep tonight for some odd reason...

/P

Re:Where's the NTFS writer then?

[Hognoxious]

Translate this to physical security. Would you be satisfied with a bank that kept your money in jar that was hidden in a large building with no floorplan, no locks, and missing doorknobs?

Mmm, you lost me there, buddy. Where's the car fit into all this?