Cybersec Canon Ep 4. The Cuckoo’s Egg - Chapter 9-12. Variety in Software Solutions

In the book Cliff Stoll makes the case for a diverse software ecosystem. But now, it seems like there is more consolidation and standardization than variety.

Photo by Tamal Mukhopadhyay on Unsplash

“If everyone used the same version of the same operating system, a single security hole would let hackers into all the computers. Instead, there’s a multitude of operating systems: Berkeley Unix, AT&T Unix, DEC’s VMS, IBM’s TSO, VM, DOS, even Macintoshes and Ataris. This variety of software meant that no single att…