Foreign software not inherently evil.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Washington PULSE

Critics of globalization who often decry the outsourcing of high-tech manufacturing lately have been sounding distress signals about the potential harm to national security that could be caused by software designed and made outside the United States. In their view, the use of foreign and perhaps anonymous supply chains can create concerns that software may have hidden flaws, intentionally introduced, that opponents will later exploit, notes James Andrew Lewis, author of "Foreign Influence on Software: Risks and Recourse." In the study--sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies--Lewis says these scary scenarios tend to stir up irrational fears and make everyone lose sight of the real problem. "In...