From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 2/6/2026 6:26 PM, Waldek Hebisch wrote:   
   > Actually, the story as I heard it shows the opposite: it is very   
   > hard to plant a backdoor in a compiler so that nobody notices   
   > it and the backdoor survives.  In case of Ken Thompson the   
   > backdoor that he planted was quickly removed by releases people.   
   > They did not realise that there was a backdoor, but it caused   
   > trouble and they got rid of it by recompiling using clean   
   > sources and older, non-backdoored compiler.   
      
   It's hard to "slip" malware into code at the source level   
   *if* the sources are actively maintained.  Of course, if you're   
   just hoping to get whatever you can...   
      
   However, with "lots of eyes" and no real OWNERSHIP, complex   
   software can often slip something through simply because the   
   "eyes" on the sources aren't really motivated to understand   
   everything they see -- "It must be working!"   
      
      
      
   With closed source "appliances", it is considerably easier   
   because you have more control of the environment and the   
   eyes that can look at it.   
      
   > There are may ways to plant a backdor, backdooring a compiler looks   
   > like one of hardest ways.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)