Atomictumor

So a couple of hackers at a recent geek convention in San Diego demonstrated that there is a massive exploit available in Firefox with regards to the way the browser handles Javascript.  The duo has elected, however, not to share the exploit with Firefox, which seems kinda wierd to me.

Regardless, Mozilla is taking it seriously, and apparently word around the campfire is that Firefox’s once vaunted security is all hype.  Theres a lot of people taking it further, stating that open source is insecure by nature because it allows all the troublemakers and script kiddies access to the code in order to find these exploits.

Poppycock, I say.  The only reason for closed source (i.e., where you can’t read the source code) software is copyright.  Pure and simple.  While open source allows anybody to see it, meaning these bad people can find Java exploits and holes, it also allows ANYBODY TO SEE IT, meaning that all these smart college kids with nothing to do and an aim to get a name out on the internet to pad their resume can find these holes and patch ‘em before they’re exploited.

Which is what I still can’t understand about these electronic voting systems, because they’re running on closed source, proprietary software.  In MY America, the voting system is transparent, but I guess then the terrorists could use it to steal elections…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 at 8:18 am and is filed under Fearmongering, Geekery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.