I've often been told that I was born thirty years too late. I hold an unhealthy fascination with the early history of electronic computing (along with computing esoterica in general). If you need someone who can tell you how to work with RDOS on the Nova or need a quick multiplication routine written for the 6502, I'm your man. Plus, I keep telling those young whippersnappers to get off my lawn.
I say this, not out of some sort of cheap self-aggrandizement, but to give some explanation as to why I'm posting a link to a twenty-three year old paper. The paper may be old, but its still got a lot to say to all you young whippersnappers. It was written by Ken Thompson (co-inventor of a little thing called Unix), and outlines a most devious plot to insert a backdoor into Unix.
The paper may not have any direct impact on your security policy, but it does show you just how dangerous a truly dedicated attacker can be, and quoting it will make you sound smarter at parties (plus he makes fun of FORTRAN!).
The link (courtesy of the Association for Computing Machinery): Reflections on Trusting Trust
I hope you enjoy reading the paper. I think it does show just devious attacks can get, and how, sometimes, you really can't trust anyone.
Now get off my lawn.
