Re: NANO: Hacking assembler security

From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Thu Feb 10 2000 - 09:08:29 MST


What you're talking about is not analogous to the Thompson hack; what
you're talking about is more like a compiler that would recognize *any*
compiler, even a compiler written for Pascal instead of C++, and which
would furthermore refuse to compile anything that could be used as a
spreadsheet. I don't believe it can be done, even with limited AI.

What's more likely is that if Zyvex wants to sell more than one Anything
Box, their Boxes will be programmed to build only those objects which
have been signed with by Zyvex's public RSA key; which, of course, will
not include Anything Boxes. Or submachine guns.

(As modified to take into account the "nanotech -> quantum computing ->
no more RSA" chain. Open (?) question: Using quantum computing, is it
possible to create a public-key encryption method immune to quantum decryption?)

-- 
               sentience@pobox.com      Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
                  http://pobox.com/~sentience/beyond.html
Typing in Dvorak         Programming with Patterns  Writing in Gender-neutral
Voting for Libertarians  Heading for Singularity    There Is A Better Way


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