RE: Publishing Findings on Commercial Applications

["Jezebel Ali" <jezebel_ali () hush com>]

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Dear Friend Ralph Forsythe,

I appreciate very much your response.  It make sense to me and
after reading lot of mail that I will take internal path to client
& vendor.  It is true I paid to do penetration test from client.  I
will try convince client to make push so that vendor will patch
product on whole rather than only client.  I argue that it is good
for industry if this direction is taken.  Maybe client will appear
benevolent also in industry.

Thank you once again friends for reading and taking valuable time
to respond.

Kind Regards,
Jez




On Wed, 14 Jun 2006 02:58:17 +0400 Ralph Forsythe
<rforsythe () 5280tech com> wrote:
> Another question to answer -- Would disclosing the information
> discovered
> put your client at potential risk?
>
> I'm not sure of the legal ramifications of disclosing a flaw you
> found
> (even if identifiable information were removed) during a
> contracted
> pen-test, versus one you found in your own free time.  If the
> client then
> gets violated through your discovery by chance just because of
> what they
> do, it's conceivable that they could have a case against you.
> Yeah I know
> people disclose vulnerabilities daily, but generally those people
> aren't
> being paid by potential targets to find the holes either.
>
> In a roundabout way, you'd be telling the world "here's how to
> hack my
> client" even without disclosing their name, if that software
> package is as
> pervasive as you say it is.  I know if I were a bank and this
> happened to
> me, I'd have my legal counsel on the phone in about 3.2 seconds,
> if even
> to find out I had no case (but I'd still be looking very hard at
> it).
>
> If you are 100% sure you have nothing contractual barring it, I'd
> still
> consult a lawyer to make sure you aren't setting yourself up for a
> bad
> time.  Ethically (and perhaps legally as well) I think contacting
> the
> vendor first is probably the best path to take.  That doesn't mean
> you
> can't disclose it publically, but you may come to an agreement on
> delaying
> that email while they prepare a patch.  You'll also be more of a
> fan to
> those banks' customers, who will appreciate the immediate response
> rather
> than waiting an indeterminate amount of time during which their
> accounts
> could be vulnerable to who knows what.
>
> - Ralph
>
>
> On Wed, 14 Jun 2006, Sahir Hidayatullah wrote:
>
> > Might be a better idea to contact the vendor first.
> > These days you can get into all sorts of trouble for revealing
> flaws.
> > Besides, it's probably more ethical to work with them first
> isn't it ? :)
> > You could also follow RFP's disclosure policy:
> > http://www.wiretrip.net/rfp/policy.html
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > --S.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Jezebel Ali [mailto:jezebel_ali () hush com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 1:00 AM
> > To: pen-test () securityfocus com
> > Subject: Publishing Findings on Commercial Applications
> >
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> > Greetings Brother and Sister List Members,
> >
> > I have question: If I performing Penetration Test on customer
> site
> > and this customer has a commercial application which is not
> > publicly available for download or purchase, do I have a right
> to
> > publish finding of this application to the public without
> > mentioning customer name?
> >
> > This application widely used by banking and financial industry
> and
> > not always available to anyone for testing.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> > Jez
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This List Sponsored by: Cenzic

Concerned about Web Application Security? 
Why not go with the #1 solution - Cenzic, the only one to win the Analyst's 
Choice Award from eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise, 
you need to proactively protect your applications from hackers. Cenzic has the 
most comprehensive solutions to meet your application security penetration 
testing and vulnerability management needs. You have an option to go with a 
managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure) or an enterprise software 
(Cenzic Hailstorm). Download FREE whitepaper on how a managed service can 
help you: http://www.cenzic.com/news_events/wpappsec.php 
And, now for a limited time we can do a FREE audit for you to confirm your 
results from other product. Contact us at request () cenzic com for details.
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