Forwarded from: Peter Dyer <TheDyerCo@private> Acknowledging Mr Vamosi's constitutional right to free speech, I can but wonder about his views and the agenda he is trying to advocate at a time when criminals are vandalizing millions of computer systems every day for nothing more than the sport of it. The superstar status granted by the hacker community to one of their own based upon the scale of the impact a particular criminal effort has on the world population does nothing more than encourage bigger and more outlandish attacks. Having someone from the professional security community and a publisher who supposedly advocates Information Security take the focus of our efforts off the criminal and then to blame the software provider for the millions of dollars in lost productivity and clean-up costs is absurd! Young hackers criminals seeking superstar status will inevitably find a way to circumvent computer systems protected by the most elaborate security programs through little more than taking advantage of the weakness of one inside individual and a little creative human engineering effort. The millions of home users impacted in the process cannot possible defend themselves from the dedicated actions of one criminal hacker and neither can Microsoft. Placing a bounty on the heads of these computer criminals will encourage people with information necessary for the successful prosecution of these criminals to come forward. When computer criminals (and their parents if they are juveniles) are held accountable for their action and liable for the costs incurred as a result of their actions and when prison becomes the residence of those convicted for the next 10 years, the desire for superstar status will be tempered with the very real possibility of arrest and confinement. Microsoft has taken an aggressive approach to resolving the problem faced by the individual home computer user and I, as one of those millions, appreciate their efforts. Mr Vamosi is advocating the building of a better cheese container to keep out a mouse whose favorite sport is breaking into the container using the plans he got off the internet. We don't need a better container. we need a very hungry cat. Peter A. Dyer Director of Operations The Dyer Company TheDyerCo@private -----Original Message----- From: InfoSec News [mailto:isn@private] Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 7:46 AM To: isn@private Subject: [ISN] Microsoft's hacker bounty is wasted money http://asia.cnet.com/newstech/perspectives/0,39001148,39157414,00.htm By Robert Vamosi, Special to CNETAsia Tuesday, November 11 2003 8:24 AM commentary: Last Wednesday, Microsoft, the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service, and Interpol, an international law enforcement organization, announced a US$5 million reward system for information leading to the arrest of individuals who write computer viruses. In particular, Microsoft is offering a quarter of a million dollars to apprehend the authors of last August's MSBlast and Sobig.f worms. What a brilliant PR move--something to distract the media from the latest Windows-based virus, MiMail.c, that's currently loose on the Internet. Instead of using that same US$5 million to secure the Windows code you and I use every day, and admitting that it's partly responsible for the problem, Microsoft has decided to point the finger elsewhere. Deja vu This situation reminds me of the current U.S. anti-drug strategy, in which the government spends billions of dollars on drug interdiction and user arrests. While it's important to reduce the flow of illegal substances on our streets (and I'm not suggesting we legalize all drugs), such arrests alone are not enough. We also need programs that address the addictive behavior that creates demand for drugs. By not focusing on the underlying causes of drug use, we are consequently losing the war on drugs. [...] - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomo@private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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