- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
The backdoor, known for years by vendors that sold the technology but not necessarily by customers, exists in an encryption algorithm baked into radios sold for commercial use in critical infrastructure.
There is some security to obscurity, but I’d argue that the more prevalent a system is the more having visible source adds security. When it comes to unscrupulous behavior by vendors - like those who would embed backdoors in communications element - shining light on the farm corners of their code definitely provides some security.
At the very least, if the company that supplies a product goes under, there’s a better possibility of getting a new vendor to support or patch it if they can actually get their hands on the source.