MadRat
Lifer
The conspiracy goes something like this... KARI, the Iraqi air defense network, was exploited prior to the original Gulf War by a simple printer driver that accepted RPC's from an allied machine. An inserted virus locked up the entire Iraqi network. The secret about the virus knocking out the air defense came out within months of the event and spurned serious debate among the Chinese about their own inherent vulnerabilities using western software. All but a couple of western printer manufacturers agreed to insert binary code exploits into their drivers in exchange for the government allowing them hands off control of their own industry. The Chinese used covert agents to penetrate western IT companies and by 1996 had found considerable evidence that they were being exploited. Within the year they had the ability to actively trap western operatives and were able to convince the senior leadership to explore open source alternatives. The past two years we've had a punch, counter-punch series of cat and mouse games between the Chinese and their western counterparts, with most of the battling done in virtual secrecy. The Chinese have penetrated the defenses of every government agency, big and small, at one time or another due to flaws in MS programs, most notably the Exchange and Office products. The recent spat of MS flaws is but child's play when it comes to the exploits being used by either side...
This is the gist of the story from one of the guys at work who used to work for a federal agency. Does anyone else buy this story?
This is the gist of the story from one of the guys at work who used to work for a federal agency. Does anyone else buy this story?
