"not sure I understood what the point was in showing it was possible to create compilers which introduced bugs."
Not bugs, trojans - if deliberate. The point being that apparently "clean" source can be infected with a trojan by the program that compiles it. And even if I check the compiler code, the compiler itself could have been compiled by a compiler that spits out trojan-inducing compilers. And I cannot *ensure* that the binary compiler I first use is clean except that I trust that it is so (well unless I'm willing to sit and audit the diassembly).
Slashdot Mirror
"not sure I understood what the point was in showing it was possible to create compilers which introduced bugs."
Not bugs, trojans - if deliberate. The point being that apparently "clean" source can be infected with a trojan by the program that compiles it. And even if I check the compiler code, the compiler itself could have been compiled by a compiler that spits out trojan-inducing compilers. And I cannot *ensure* that the binary compiler I first use is clean except that I trust that it is so (well unless I'm willing to sit and audit the diassembly).
Sean - State of emergency...how beautiful to be
At the risk of sounding stupid (a common risk I know) what's the beef with this deadbeef stuff (pun intended).
I have a kind of vague cultural memory about it - hex digits spelling a word - someone filling core memory with it (IBM or VAX??). Remind me.
Also am I correct in imagining that this was the inspiration for freshmeat.net.
Ignore me if this is worn....
Sean
Probably means they haven't documented it properly, are winging it, and can't be bothered to do the necessary.