Penetration Testing mailing list archives
[Fwd: Re: Pentester convicted..]
From: William Hancock <bill.hancock () isthmusgroup com>
Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 09:17:34 -0500
The below message was intended for the list, I am forwarding it on at their request. bh -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Pentester convicted.. Date: Thu, 11 May 2006 14:20:01 +1000 From: Serg B. <sergicles () gmail com> To: pen-test () lists securityfocus com CC: bill.hancock () isthmusgroup com References: <4461F6A6.9050501 () isthmusgroup com> That's a nice rant and I gree with you on most points (horrible wallet analogy though hehe). Any way, you neglected or perhaps didn't read the part where he emailed database records to the site administrator as proof or v ulnerability. He compromised the database and accessed personal data. This in tern will be followed by weeks or possibly months of auditing and recovery/reinstallations, etc. Understandable, they are a little pissed! But yeah, this is definitely a major step backwards. It is in no way going to deter people from exploiting or at least attempting to exploit services that look like they are vaulnarable, they are just going to stop reporting it. Total Bullshit! As my colleague just pointed out: this is an example case of head in the sand mentality! Rant justified! On 11/05/06, William Hancock <bill.hancock () isthmusgroup com> 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. What are we to do as a community I ask? We should we, the good guys, who are paid for our knowledge and ability to exploit mistakes, oversights, and weaknesses then professionally report them to aid in the securing of information capital (or anyone who reports the flaw for that matter) worry about prosecution. It lends itself to a forcing the technical community to sit on their laurels and wait for the people who don't report issues to exploit them. Further it sounds very clear that had he not notified them, they would have never known. A security pro notices a flaw, checks to make sure he is not on crack by 'flipping a bit', deems the threat viable and is likely to be exploited, notifies the owners, then get arrested and charged with unauthorized access. We, as a or even The security community, should push corporations, governments, and organized body's to take responsibility and ownership of their problems. If they publish a site that is flawed or exposing information then they are authorizing the retrieval of that information. I'm not advocating that they laws should allow any jerk to try and brute his or her way in to a public or private web site, but come on. If someone leaves their wallet in the park with no guard or protection, I pick it up and bring it back to the owner, the owner didn't want me to have it but I brought it back to him. Why in the hell should I have to go to jail for returning it to him, why should I/we be punished for doing the right thing? I acknowledge this to be a rant but there must but some way to insist that when people make something available to the public that it is their responsibility to safeguard it and appreciate not persecute someone who let's them know (for free I might add) that a weakness exists. This is simple scapegoating, the University did something not advisable as a good practice and instead of owning up to it they villafied a professional pen-tester for offering valid advice. </RANT> Thanks, Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- [Fwd: Re: Pentester convicted..] William Hancock (May 11)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: [Fwd: Re: Pentester convicted..] Travis Williams (May 11)
- [Fwd: Re: Pentester convicted..] Stuart Thomas (May 12)
- RE: [Fwd: Re: Pentester convicted..] Alex Moen (May 12)