Source code

[Alex Martelli]

Paul Rubin wrote:
        ...
> hostile parties touch the hardware.  Nonetheless, the pay TV industry
> deploys millions of sealed computers (smart cards) every year to
> customers, every single one of which is considered an attacker.  While
> that industry had spectacular early security failures, these days it's
> a fairly solved problem and they limit losses to acceptable levels.

According to a lot of discussion that was bandied around in Europe
in recent months, what with Kirsch's headline-making bankruptcy and
the woes of most other European pay-TV suppliers, this may not be
the case in Europe.  Pay-TV does seem to be plagued by widespread
piracy, in Europe, that may go some way towards explaining why all
pay-TV suppliers are bleeding red ink (actually, all except one UK
supplier, I believe).  I have no way to check whether the discussion
reflects reality, of course.


> It doesn't sound like the OP was asking for this type of solution though.

If somebody asks for a magic wand which, when moved in appropriate
ways while whispering "abra-cadabra", makes minor cuts on one's skin
go away, I think it's quite helpful to point out that such magic
wands, while often dreamed about, appear not to exist, and furthermore
to point the poster towards the use of disinfectants and band-aids,
which seem to be more effective real-world ways to deal with such
minor cuts and scrapes on one's skin.  Even though the OP may not
have been working for the only apparently workable type of solution,
pointing that type of solution out may still be the best one can do.


Alex