RE: Consulting Question

["Laundrup, Jens" <Jens.Laundrup () METROKC GOV>]

Common courtesy is to contact the company that wrote the software
package and give them an opportunity to fix it before you announce it to
the world.  Let them know that you are doing just so and to please
credit you with the discovery.    

As far as your management, I would write it up in an e-mail to the IT
manager and the security manager (and cc you supervisor) with the offer
to help fix the problem.  This way there is no denying that you
discovered it and you acted in the best interest of the company.  They
may worry about the vulnerability broadcast on e-mail but you need to
CYA in case they have any thoughts of "blamescaping".  If you can
encrypt it, even better.  But what ever you do, keep a copy.  

Good job on finding it and great job of trying to do the right thing!

Jens 

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com]
On Behalf Of Al Saenz
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 11:54 AM
To: sammons () cs utk edu
Cc: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: RE: Consulting Question

Hi Chris,

So it was kind of found by you doing your normal job on the system, more
like discovered accidentally.
Explain to them how you found it so that they don't think you are
"looking" for things to gain more business.

I say point it out and let them know that you could fix it for them.
If they say no we will fix it ourselves, well they will be very happy
and "remember" that you pointed
it out and perhaps you will get more business in the future from them.

Al

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce () securityfocus com
[mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com]On Behalf Of sammons () cs utk edu
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 11:36 AM
To: Adam Pal-Moldovan
Cc: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: Consulting Question


I appreciate all the responses so far. They are very helpful. I just
wanted to clarify a particular point in my scenario. The system
(application) is one that I have been given access to and the flaw was
found via a general error from the application. No testing was done. The
flaw, obviously caused by lax coding practices, could be easily spotted
by
anyone knowledgeable of such issues. My question then is this, to avoid
such a misunderstanding (by non-technical management) would it be better
to simply point the flaw out and offer methods of remediation without an
additional offer of service?

Thanks,

Chris

> Hi Chris
>
> First of all, congrats for the gap you`ve found.
> Considering a story from one of Mitnick`s books, the worst case
scenario
> would be an accusation that you want to exploit the company.
> I think your "dilema" is pretty classical for the "good hackers" but
think
> at the companies, there is not only the IT-department where the guys
try
> to fix their software, there is also the management and pr-department,
so
> they wouldn`t eventualy understand what you do and falsely accuse you,
> because that is good for the immage of the company.
> On the other hand, maybe they will understand you, make you an offert
to
> shut up, and not to tell anyone about it.
>
> Usualy companies trust 3rd party consultants more than someone from
> outside, because such consultants are damn expensive, so they must be
damn
> good (management mentality).
>
> Considering some draft about how to publish a vulnerability, if you
sum up
> my previous statements and can anonymize that so far to get out of any
> risk, i think you can check
> http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/html/fieldhelp
> Thats what i`ve found about how some draft should/could look like.
>
>
> Best regards
>
>
> Adam
>
> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
> Datum: Tue, 8 May 2007 17:31:43 -0400 (EDT)
> Von: sammons () cs utk edu
> An: security-basics () securityfocus com
> Betreff: Consulting Question
>
> > Hello All,
> >
> >   I would like to get my feet wet doing some general security
> > consultation
> > work (network audits, penetration testing, etc.). My questions
concerns
> > a proper approach to potential clients. Consider this situation, I
have
> > found a few vulnerabilities in the company's web application product
> > that could lead to potential identity theft and system compromise.
This
> > being a relatively large company, how would one go about informing
the
> > company about this vulnerability without them leaving you 100% out of
> > the equation?
> >
> >   In the case that the company is not interested in further
third-party
> > assistance I have a second question (concerning credit for finding
such
> > vulnerability). What is the proper/ethical protocol for publishing a
> > software vulnerability? Are there any other methods that would insure
> > credit while protecting the company from mass exploitation? I thank
you
> > in advanced for your input.
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > Chris
>
> --
> "Feel free" - 10 GB Mailbox, 100 FreeSMS/Monat ...
> Jetzt GMX TopMail testen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/topmail