Come era purtroppo facile prevedere, la porzione di codice sorgente di Windows finita su Internet è diventata la hit del giorno, superando per numero di download qualsiasi precedente record (tranne forse quelli relativi al download di spezzoni porno particolarmente richiesti in Rete, come il filmato relativo a Pamela Anderson e Tommy Lee Jones o, più di recente, quello relativo alle gesta erotiche - per dirla con Battiato - della
squaw Paris Hilton):
Microsoft said the released code amounted to a fraction of the entire program, but that wasn't stopping the curious and the malevolent from checking it out for themselves. Noting the size of the files being swapped on Internet file-sharing networks on Friday, security experts feared there could be enough compromised code available to crack open vital pieces of a software that run millions of computers.
"Whilst we do not know exactly what's in circulation, every coder, every malware jockey and every hacker who has a reasonable understanding of programming is going to be looking to get their hands on this source code," said Richard Starnes, an information security specialist who works with various law enforcement agencies on cyber-crime investigations.
Various computer security firms were reporting on Friday that two compressed files -- one at 203 megabytes and another at 229 megabytes of Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems -- were being widely distributed on scores of online exchanges.
Security officials said the compressed files amounted to a CD-ROM's worth of data and represented less than 5 percent of Windows code. However, they warned it may relate critical security functions.
"I do not believe Microsoft would have issued a public statement if the source code for solitaire had been released," said Starnes.
The concern is that in the wrong hands, virus writers and hackers could discover vulnerabilities in the software and use it to break into PCs running on Windows 2000 or NT to destroy or steal data.
Microsoft was quick to dismiss this as unlikely, but that hasn't deterred Internet users from downloading the files.
"The source code leak spread quickly in the underground," said Ken Dunham, Malicious Code Intelligence manager for security consultancy iDefense.
Insomma, a dispetto di quanto sostenuto da fonti giornalistiche come quella citata nel post subito sotto questo, il Vaso di Pandora della "sicurezza" (si fa per dire) Microsoft potrebbe essersi frantumato per davvero - nel qual caso ci ritroveremmo tutti nel peggiore degli scenari possibili: fra i vari personaggi interessati a dare un'occhiata approfondita al codice di Windows, infatti, vanno annoverati anche gli informatici militanti nei gruppi terroristici, a cominciare da Al Qaeda (è da tempo noto, infatti, che questa organizzazione sta accarezzando l'idea di scatenare, in parallelo agli attacchi terroristici più o meno convenzionali, anche una sorta di
cyber-jihad contro l'Occidente).
Fonte:
Wired News.
