Would You Fly an Airplane with a Linux-Based Control System?

Here at the LISA 2004 conference in Atlanta, Dan Klein gave a very well-received talk on whether or not Linux is secure against hidden flaws–either those lurking there by accident, or those intentionally put there by evildoers.

“We all know that “Linux is better than Windows,” says Klein. “Few intelligent people would board a fly-by-wire airplane which was controlled by Microsoft Windows. So how about Linux? When your life is at stake, your attitudes change considerably. Better than Windows, yes–but better enough?”

One of the real highpoints of this talk are the movies and Klein’s review of an oil pipeline explosion caused when the CIA inserted a vulnerability in a piece of software that was being sent to Russia. And you thought that stuff like that only happened in the movies!

You can find links to the talk at Klein’s publications page, or you can directly download the PDF or PowerPoint files.

And, if you really want, you can watch the streaming webcast from when Klein gave a similar talk 10 months ago in Copenhagen.