[AusNOG] (bad) cyber security and ideas coming out of thewoodwork?!

Robert Brockway robert at timetraveller.org
Sat Jun 26 04:33:55 EST 2010


On Fri, 25 Jun 2010, Dobbins, Roland wrote:

> A simpler solution to buffer overflow issues is to make use of typesafe 
> languages.  It seems that this will never happen, alas.

Well legacy code abounds :)

Different people have different definitions for the term 'type safe'. 
I'm using a strong definition, and I think you are too.

Type safe languages like Limbo certainly have a lot to offer.  The problem 
of course is that establishing the level of safety is a non-trivial task. 
I know proof of formal correctness has been applied to a small kernel (L4) 
but I don't think anyone has done it with a compiler yet.

Will type safe languages achieve more success in the future?  Maybe.

Cheers,

Rob

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