AO - Max security for a connected world

[JPnyc]

okay valid points. I'm attempting to address some of them right now, particularly regarding the core membership. We have pop-up ads? I block all third-party cookies personally and first party are set to prompt. I thought the only pop up we had was an occasional market survey which, once closed, shouldn't reappear.

[xiphias360]

No popups from what i've seen. Maybe it's just malware on their side...

[|3lack|ce]

Meh. Go advanced instead of 'post quick' - made me type this all over again:

That one popup was enough to make me block 'em here forever. It's a minor annoyance yes, but an annoyance nonetheless, and one that will drive off touchy users. I'd strongly suggest ditching it. Malware, I'm seeing fastclick and doubleclick loading quite a bit. Granted this site doesn't have as much as other ad run sites like say..neopets or something, but being a Security site, it should have ZERO. My offered solution to that is to screen any and all advertisements before allowing them onto the site, period. Also double check existing ads, as well as the site itself to make sure that no malware is being distributed to the users, even benign ones.

Remember, you're representing yourself as Maximum Security for a Connected World. That means this site should be 100% malware free forever, bar none, period, even on download links you offer and advertisements that keep you afloat.

On the warm, fuzzy side - thanks for listening. The fact that you care enough to answer personally and address issues goes a very long way with me. I'll post more here because of it, most especially if I see resulting change from user suggestions. I do realize and keep in mind that you cannot please everyone all the time, but do your best

[xiphias360]

BTW, with all the legal hurdles you must jump through, what's up with the sig? If i ever kill someone i'm telling them JP told me to do it...

[JPnyc]

You win that one!

[|3lack|ce]

*cackle* touche.

I seriously considered changing my sig to "JPnyc made me do it."

[JPnyc]

*slaps forehead*

[nihil]

"this is for information / research purposes only we aren't responsible for what you do with this information and it's illegal to do this to things you don't own"

I doubt if any of those disclaimers would work these days. I have seen far too many strange court decisions recently to have any confidence in the legal systems either in the US or EU when it comes to IT issues.

Legislation is drafted by people who don't understand IT, and enforced by people who don't understand IT.

The only way I have seen, that I would be reasonably confident in, is by publishing proof of concept, code snippets, or code that won't work unless you correct it first.

That would force any malicious person to actually "load the weapon" before using it. In fact they would have to deliberately modify it, which is a massively more defensible position for the original publisher.

You also have to realise that this is a commercial site................it relies on advertising, and many advertisers would not be impressed by a site that published skiddie manuals? Disclaimers are things that advertisers use.......... they sure as hell don't read them.

As JPnyc has pointed out, it isn't what you say as much as how you say it.

Being "in the public domain" isn't much of a defence either.......... I certainly wouldn't post the recipe for tabon or sarin on a UK or US website

[|3lack|ce]

As an addendum, I would like to commend Dino for this thread and the one that spawned it. You can't steal him though, he's a co-admin on our site. Me, I'm just a mod - to diffuse any misconceptions that might've arisen earlier. Keep in mind though that it's all user-run there, by committee - any legitimate suggestions are deliberated and acted upon in one way, shape, or form...but this isn't about TAZ, it's about AO.

Let's see...some of the other good stuff that was springing up just as I departed... The monthly 'AO' interview thingy - where senior members filled out a 'get to know me' interview and it was all posted up nice and proper by the author. Mentions of us on the e-zines were nice too - I still remember when a certain freeware virii scanner sent out a malicious patch and crashed systems and Norton's Ghost saved my butt, and it got mentioned. It was just a little thing, but still meant a lot to see myself in print elsewhere.

There was a time when we saw day zero viruses reported here before Symantec even picked them up. I think I've mentioned before that I'd like to see this recur here. In fact, I'd like to see that expanded into things like 'how does this malware effect your system and why do these companies use it,' 'how to defeat this malware or that malware and prevent it from ever returning onto your system,' 'how to catch and defeat a zero day virus before it infects you or others,' etc. There's a TON of how to tuts that could be put up out there that just...aren't. Perhaps some of our more techwise people might write them? Perhaps a system of rewards might be in order (time was I'd kill for an AO coffee cup, and I can remember when they were being given away, just very rarely).

Dino's BOFH stories always rocked, as did Gore's, and humor abounded. We were always current on the goings on of cyberspace - including articles on things ranging from Gates' house being hacked to the latest in Hardware updates to the newest unix/linux adaptations. Gore was even doing tuts on how to run his brand of /ux - but that seems to have died off as well. Me, I'm an Ubuntu fan now...but I've not seen it touched on a whole lot here.

[edit - nihil posted while I was typing]Ah yes, but I distinctly remember downloading plans on how to build a thermonuclear device back in my college days - proving it *was* out there and *was* obtainable. I don't have the testicular fortitude to try that same search from my home IP of course, so I can neither confirm nor deny they exist today. I do, however, get your's and JPNyc's points[/edit]

[JPnyc]

Probably true, but even if it isn't, as I stated there's more to it than just being sued. We're a business, we can't be seen as a hacking site. I want to make this forum as smoking as you guys do, trust me. But I have certain restrictions that have to be worked within, that's all. I'll do my best to see they're not applied too stringently, if you guys will meet me halfway.