From: Marc Horowitz <marc@Athena.MIT.EDU>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 93 23:33:56 PDT
To: bbyer@BIX.com
Subject: Re: Commercial PGP: Verifying Trustworthiness
In-Reply-To: <9308310014.memo.72462@BIX.com>
Message-ID: <9308310628.AA14903@oliver.MIT.EDU>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


>> I dunno.  The early versions of UNIX had a back door in the login
>> program put in by the designer.  The compiler also watched for the
>> login source code to be recompiled and added the back door.  The
>> compiler also watched for the compiler source code to be recompiled
>> and inserted the login code modification code _and the compiler
>> modification code.  You can never be to careful.

I've let a lot of stupid comments go by, but I have to respond to this
one.

It is true that Dennis Ritchie (I believe, if not him, one of the
other original UNIX authors) proposed such a login/compiler virus.
But it wasn't in any early version of UNIX.

		Marc