As Ethicists, They Don't Hack It

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded by: security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>


[What is it these days. Corporate windbags like Russ Cooper preaching
for 'responsible disclosure' and a 'forum' for it, without outlining
how that would happen. Now we have others including Goldstein
preaching about ethics and changes without understanding some simple
facts about the topics at hand. Whatever happened to the concept of
suggesting a solution to a problem you bring up...  
- security curmudgeon]


http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,46033,00.html

[snip..]

The need for this last criteria emerged at one of the weekend's key
events, a panel discussion featuring three of the biggest names in
hacking:  HAL2001 organizer Rop Gonggrijp, CCC leader and ICANN board
member Andy Mueller-Maguhn, and Emmanuel Goldstein, editor in chief of
2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

As colorful as these legends were, and despite some fine reminiscing
about the 1980s -- the dawn of hacking civilization -- many in the
crowd seemed to think the movement lacked a clear vision of the
future.

When, after an hour or so of kicking things around, they opened up the
floor to questions, a man in his early 20s asked for guidance on how a
contemporary hacker should form his ethical code.

Gonggrijp demurred, saying that since ethics are personal to each
individual, an ethical code is something each person has to form for
himself.

Mueller-Maguhn was equally vague, although a bit more forceful.
"You're responsible for everything you do," he said. "Ethics are not a
law. Ethics are a sense of how things might work."

Goldstein then offered an example: "I don't think it's a big deal to
deface a company website. I think it's a valid political statement."

The young questioner, who seemed only vaguely satisfied with the
responses he received, was not alone in his discontent.

[snip..]



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