Windows Source Code Leaks

Found on Neowin on Thursday, 12 February 2004
Browse Software

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.

MS seems to go Open Source. Soon, a few hundred/thousand people will take a look into the code; this could unveil a bunch of new exploits. Perhaps even 3rd party patches. Thinking about it, it's surprising that MS was able to keep the code closed for so long, after letting more and more govs/unis review it.