Chris Posted February 12, 2004 Report Share Posted February 12, 2004 Neowin has learned of shocking and potentially devastating news. It would appear that two packages are circulating on the internet, one being the source code to Windows 2000, and the other being the source code to Windows NT. At this time, it is hard to establish whether or not full code has leaked, and this will undoubtedly remain the situation until an attempt is made to compile them. Microsoft are currently unavailable for comment surrounding this leak so we have no official response from them at the time of writing.This leak is a shock not only to Neowin, but to the wider IT industry. The ramifications of this leak are far reaching and devastating. This reporter does not wish to be sensationalist, but the number of industries and critical systems that are based around these technologies that could be damaged by new exploits found in this source code is something that doesn't bare thinking about. We ask that for the wider benefit of the IT community that members and readers support Microsoft by forwarding anything they know about the leak to the Microsoft's Anti-Piracy department.More | HereThink of source code as the DNA of Windows. Microsoft keep it all secret and nobody but Microsoft is allowed to view it and play with it. Its what makes Windows what it is...Source Code can be modify...now think about what impact that could have on Microsoft.Linux is "Open Source" meaning anyone can view the source code...Do not read too much into this until neowin have more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 I have to admit that it does not mean much to me. If Linux is open source and Microsoft is closed, what difference does this make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 I agree with andsome, what difference does it make?There are loads of open source codes available, Linux being one O/S but there are web browsers (e.g. Firefox/Mozilla, which has recently been the subject of a thread), office suites (e.g. Open Office) and many more. This doesn't mean that the majority of computer buffs are trying to hack into them and produce malicious variations. Perhaps if Gates and Microsoft hadn't been so secretive in the first place there wouldn't be so many attempts to hack into or destroy the Windows engine and perhaps even Microsoft may have obtained useful information about weaknesses in their system and corrected them before they were exploited by the virus/trojan/other malware creators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Gates bought the source code from a third party anyway. Everything else is packaging and padding. M$ are so determined to dominate , even at the expense of our freedom of choice, that they attract malicious attack. They are currently fostering sympathy in order to justify their Palladium intentions, .Net and their collusion with Intel and AMD to produce cpu's which will only run M$ -approved software. I'll use snailmail before I'll ever let Leghorn near my machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Andsome, -pops-To you and I this means zip, ziltch nothing really of any importance to us, unless you happen to work for Microsoft and/or are thinking of illegally obtaining this source code for reasons only known to yourselves.It's one thing to obtain the code but understanding it, is something different. Potentially [depending how much of the code was obtained] you could find and exploit many Windows flaws "Yet to be discovered". If you were determined you could design your own Windows.From the Linux point, viewing the source code helps Linux to develop [developed by the public and not by company as such]. Linux is built upon a community of Linux users bascially having a play with code and if it works it could be seen in one of the many distributions. Even you pops and Andsome could "make" a part of Linux yourself , but you have to know what you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 13, 2004 Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Artist can you tell me if you are free on the 14th of February!NO she is £34.56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Statement from Microsoft Regarding Illegal Posting of Windows Source Code Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Windows Source Leak Traces Back to MainsoftMainsoft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 Statement to the Media Regarding Microsoft Source Code Leak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2004 The claimed Windows 2000 source code archive contains 30,915 files totaling approximately 13.5 million lines. The source is dated July 25, 2000, placing it after the official release of the operating system, which was rumored to contain between 35 and 50 million lines of code in its entirety.More | Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nellie2 Posted February 16, 2004 Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 an update on this here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2004 First exploit based around Windows code leakFrom | Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Microsoft to Hackers: Drop That Code! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 Statement from Microsoft Regarding Illegal Posting of Windows Source Code Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 Microsoft to Review Old Windows Code After Source Leak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Microsoft Stands by Its Code Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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