"Microsoft was completely hosed (from Slammer). It took them two days to get out from 
under
it," said Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of Counterpane Internet Security, a 
network
monitoring service provider. "It's as hypocritical as you can get."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/02/01/microsoft.security.reut/

It's an interesting thought.

Most practitioners generally accept z/OS as setting the standard for security, when 
properly
installed.  But MVS was essentially built on an even more 'open source' base than Open 
Source
software - OS/360 was public domain and the source was available for the cost of tape
shipment.  It was riddled with security exposures - I know someone who collected 37 
ways to
break OS/360 MVT and only gave up out of boredom.  Today its descendant is damn near 
bomb
proof.

Linux looks like following down the same road.  The question that occurs to me is - is 
free
access to the source of an operating system actually a prerequisite for this?

--
  Phil Payne
  http://www.isham-research.com
  +44 7785 302 803
  +49 173 6242039

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