full-disclosure - Re: Allegations regarding OpenBSD IPSEC

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 18:04:06 -0800
From: mark seiden <mis@...den.com>
To: Graham Gower <graham.gower@...il.com>
Cc: full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk
Subject: Re: Allegations regarding OpenBSD IPSEC

On Dec 15, 2010, at 5:23 PM, Graham Gower wrote:

> On 16 December 2010 09:50, Larry Seltzer <larry@...ryseltzer.com> wrote:
>>> Has anyone read this yet?
>>> 
>>> http://www.downspout.org/?q=node/3
>>> 
>>> Seems IPSEC might have a back door written into it by the FBI?
>>> 
>> Surely the thing to do now is not to audit *your own* OpenBSD code, but to
>> audit the OpenBSD code from about 8 years ago. If there's nothing there,
>> then the claim is BS.
>> 
>> LJS
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
>> Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
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> 
> Or get hold of the old version of OpenBSD used at EOUSA and compare it
> to the OpenBSD code from the same time.
> 
> __

why should anyone other than a us attorney or perhaps an asst us attorney give a rat's ass
what may have been going on in their govt issue vpn some years ago?

but, as they prosecute federal crimes, if anyone committed a federal crime within
their office due to this they are certainly equipped to go after them.

these guys have nothing to do with the fbi (they are familially one of the fbi's little
first cousins within justice dept) and also have nothing to do with the openbsd 
distribution.

justice and fbi and darpa barely talk with each other about technology is my very
strong impression.

this whole story makes very little sense to anyone who was at all acquainted with this
scene at the time.

unless you control the compiler (see ken thompson's turing award lecture) it's a 
fanciful idea that you could successfully plant a backdoor in an open source OS and 
expect it to survive.  why even bother?

(now, watering down the s boxes in single des, that might be feasible...)

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