Re: Pentester convicted..

[lee.e.rian () census gov]

"Art Cooper" <acooper () pop innerwall com> wrote on 05/11/2006 11:25:57 AM:

> I agree Bill.  The fact they use information HE provided to then convict
him
> is completely ridiculous..

If he actually did provide the information to USC that would be one thing.
But he breaks in, steals personal records, doesn't notify USC about the
security problem, and sends the personal records to a reporter!??

from
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/circuitcourt/0,70857-0.html?tw=wn_index_6

  "McCarty is a professional computer security consultant who noticed that
   there was a problem with the way the University of Southern California
   had constructed its web page for online applications. A database
   programming error allowed outsiders to obtain applicants' personal
   information, including Social Security numbers.

   For proof, the man copied seven applicants' personal records and
   anonymously sent them to a reporter for SecurityFocus. The journalist
   notified the school, the school fixed the problem, and the reporter
   wrote an article about it."

Why would anyone try to defend this behavior much less get upset when he's
prosecuted?

Lee



> On Wed, 10 May 2006 09:20:22 -0500, William Hancock wrote
> > Hey there pen-testers, take this with a grain of salt, it just got me
> > excited.  I am really interested in everyones opinion on the matter
> > or corporate responsibility and ownership.
> >
> > <RANT>
> > In an article posted to slashdot today
> >
> > (http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/10/112259&from=rss) a
> > man has been convicted of hacking when he casually and helpfully
> > reported a security vulnerability to the owners of a web site, in
> > this case The University of Southern California.  It reads like it
> > was some sort of simple SQL injection and upon gleaning the
> > information he reported it.
        <.. snip ..>


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