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Symantec CEO: Source Code Reviews Pose Unacceptable Risk (reuters.com)
In an exclusive report from Reuters, Symantec's CEO says it is no longer allowing governments to review the source code of its software because of fears the agreements would compromise the security of its products. From the report: Tech companies have been under increasing pressure to allow the Russian government to examine source code, the closely guarded inner workings of software, in exchange for approvals to sell products in Russia. Symantec's decision highlights a growing tension for U.S. technology companies that must weigh their role as protectors of U.S. cybersecurity as they pursue business with some of Washington's adversaries, including Russia and China, according to security experts. While Symantec once allowed the reviews, Clark said that he now sees the security threats as too great. At a time of increased nation-state hacking, Symantec concluded the risk of losing customer confidence by allowing reviews was not worth the business the company could win, he said.
I think the most significant thing about this story is that Bruce Perens still visits /.
Err hi Bruce!
to a third world nation.
Then anyone can review it and probably won't be able to make any sense of it whatsoever. Unless they are fluent in spaghetti code. It's like a cheaper type of encryption.
They might be. Do you have evidence that they actually exist?
Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button
With all due respect to Bruce... Who cares about Bruce Perens? I want to know what Peter Norton thinks of this!