From: Mike Ingle <MIKEINGLE@delphi.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 93 23:48:45 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: NSA CAN BREAK PGP
Message-ID: <01H60ZOMLFNE90R379@delphi.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


While this article is clearly a poorly written hoax, the compiler part does
have a historical basis. One of the first versions of Unix had a trapdoor
in login to allow the developers to get in. The compiler was designed to
put the trapdoor back in if login was recompiled. The compiler was also
designed to put the trapdoor back in itself if the compiler itself was
recompiled. This made the trapdoor almost impossible to get rid of.
This is probably where the nut who wrote the story got this idea.

--- MikeIngle@delphi.com

Democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on lunch.