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Fri, 5 Oct 2001 11:46:07 -0500
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> BUT... any language or environment that allows arbitrary access to
> memory or files can be used to do damage. Let's not oversell Ada on
> "security" grounds - anyone smart enough to use pragma Suppress
> can get around all our wonderful language features. I content that all
> our checking was really designed to help us prevent _bugs_, not
> _mischief_.

I agree with the selling part and the "bugs not mischief", but if
you're a cracker, you can't add pragma suppress to your target's
code and recompile/reinstall it.  So you instead attack programs
written in a language that doesn't allow suppress to be turned off.   :-)

> trade-press articles about M$'s seemingly contemptuous attitude
> toward security. I'm actually quite surprised that we haven't seen
> any multi-billion-dollar class-action suits about this. Where are
> the lawyers when we need them?  :-)

Perhaps they are having lunch with Bill.

--
Wes Groleau
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau

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