Slashdot Mirror
China's Green Dam, No Longer Compulsory, May Have Lifted Code
LionMage writes "Much has been made previously of how China's Green Dam software must be installed on all new PCs in China, and of more recent revelations that the software may create exploitable security vulnerabilities or even provide the Chinese government with a ready-made botnet to use for potentially nefarious purposes. (One of those prior articles even discusses how Green Dam incorporates blacklists from CyberSitter.) Now the BBC is reporting that Solid Oak's CyberSitter software may have had more than just a compiled blacklist lifted from it. Solid Oak is claiming that actual pieces of their code somehow ended up in Green Dam. From PC Magazine's article: 'Solid Oak Software, the developer of CyberSitter, claims that the look and feel of the GUI used by Green Dam mimics the style of CyberSitter. But more damning, chief executive Brian Milburn said, was the fact that the Green Dam code uses DLLs identified with the CyberSitter name, and even makes calls back to Solid Oak's servers for updates.'" Relatedly, reader Spurious Logic writes that Green Dam won't be mandatory after all, according to an unnamed official with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Sorid Oak have ralge penis. Gleen Dam have smarr penis. Cannot cleate botnet with such smarr penis!
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
show tZ4at FreeBSD
Chinese state censorware to be based on the notoriously inaccurate and trivial-to-bypass nannyware from Solid Oak? That's hilarious! Perhaps they'll rename it "Steaming Pile" after they really get their hands deep into the code and figure out that half of the blocked domains are objectionable only to right-wing assault-rifle-toting clinic-bombing fox-news-watching militia-joining nutcases
In any case, this is truly a wonderful thing: On one side you have political dissidents and horny youngsters who can easily stomp on the tools of their oppressors to get to the information they want or need.
On the other, you have a despicable piece of shit company getting its assets stolen and having their fake secrets run up for everyone to see. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
Yay!