Slammer gets wired

In it's July issue, Wired Magazine published the full source code for the "Slammer" Internet Worm.

Wired's position on this discloser:

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"We believe in security, not obscurity. We are fully behind those in the security community. And that means you shine a light upon the vulnerabilities and risks, you don't gloss it over and pretend it doesn't exist," says Blaise Zerega, managing editor of Wired...

..."The people who are in a position to attack the Internet and create viruses do not turn to Wired magazine for that kind of information. The people who are in a position to safeguard the Internet and defend against this sort of thing do turn to Wired magazine to read up on important issues like this," contends Zerega.

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I don't know about others here but I do nott turn to Wired to stay on top of security issues. The very nature or a RT magazine makes the information outdated.

I believe that the people that could help secure the internet already have this information. They know where to look. As do current virus writers. Those that would like to reek havoc but don't know how or where to look yet are the only ones that this information would be useful to. And although I believe in full disclosure the person that does the disclosing (IMO) should have some claim to do so. (e.g., be among the first to capture it in the wild.)

Now the question I'd like to raise here is:

Will this type of article help or hinder the case for full disclosure and is Wired acting in an ethical way?



Quotes taken from: http://www.informationweek.com/story...cleID=10300664

I concur whole heartedly. It sounds to me like Wired wants some unjust publicity from publishing a "controversial" subject.

My question is, since when was Wired magazine a resource for anything other than fluff? I do read it from time to time, but I certainly don't gain ANY security insight from it.

I don't think it's directly unethical, but it does set a dangerous precedent. IMO.

Tedob1's question:... you asked whether or not Wired was acting in an ethical way... whose to say they are or aren't... they're revealing information, information that belongs to the world. I on one hand, completely support them in doing so. Why does everyone have the notion that we have to cover up the bad things.... we should dig into them and learn more from them... I agree it will teach some young guns the wrong things but that's life for you... not everything is perfect.

As for Wired... I hardly ever touch that publication, even more so, I find most magazines that write about technology a lil' iffy (odd) and useless, so I stay away from them.

BTW, another thread already exists about this:
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...t=slammer+code

all information should be accessable by everyone. Lots of source that is published on the web is pulled just hours later, as is the case right now with Waste. I dont think they are specifically doing this for publisity, although they will get some of that, they are doing it because they can, and should be able to for that matter. It's freedom of information, and freedom of press. More then that, it's interesting. I for one would like to see how it did what it did so quickly. Just my opinion...

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Will this type of article help or hinder the case for full disclosure and is Wired acting in an ethical way?

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IMO:

I think it will help if anything. It will make your average Joe/Jane User more aware of the problem at hand and maybe he/she might want to help solve some of these problems. The door can swing both ways though... :rolleyes:

If you really think about it... those who want to cause trouble won't be looking to wired for reference... They already know where to find all the info they need. Suscribe to a couple of security mailing lists (where vuln reports and exploits are mailed out daily) or they can join an "underground" community or search "underground" sites.

Your average Joe/Jane user can barley run a computer or is just up enough with technology not to fall behind... they aren't these master programmers who know the ins and outs of networking, operating systems, applications and they don't necessarily know which type of attack(s) will have the most impact.

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all information should be accessable by everyone.

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Thats the way I'm thinking about it. This info can be used for good or bad. Put it out there and hope for the best.

At least you know you'll have job security forver... ;)