>> "... a backdoor targeting Linux X64 systems, a family that has been around for at least 3 years." The point is that OS systems fundamentally depend on the t

>> "... a backdoor targeting Linux X64 systems, a family that has been around for at least 3 years." The point is that OS systems fundamentally depend on the trustworthiness of the contributors and the diliginece and bandwidth of the maintainers. Both are examples showing that the diligence and bandwidth is not infinite, and can be relatively easily overwhelmed or outmaneuvered. The UMN hack showed how easily the trust can be violated, and the netlab 3 year lifetime before discovery shows how easily flaws can stay hidden. The saying is "many eyes make shallow bugs". In an ideal case and with systems that are small relative to the body of people maintaining and actively scrutinizing it, that's true. The reality is that the scale of Linux and most OS is now well beyond the set of people scrutinizing it. How much source code did you review before you installed your latest build?