, 2007-07-18
Since computers became mainstream in the early to mid-nineties a whole ecosystem has developed around them, in order to maintain that humble computer. The various parts of that ecosystem range from the companies who make computers to the software companies who program for them.
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The medical world does a lot of research; everyone knows this. But what isn't so widely known is that for every body of research that does something useful, there are hundreds of avenues that turn into dead ends. For each drug that lowers cholesterol, fights ulcers or counters impotence, there are dozens that don't even make it past the trials phase. But that's life; you can't know what your research will uncover without trying, and seeing where it takes you.
Security conferences like the BlackHat Briefings are largely about research. And just like in the medical world, there are a lot of dead ends. But that's no reason to stop research, or to quit having such conferences. Admittedly, the research side of things focus on the sword, rather than the shield, and there are many who attend these conferences and get little from them due to the nature of their jobs. But that doesn't mean that research should stop. Security conferences have been where dial-home technology (the mainstay of trojans these days), DNS and BGP poisoning attacks (phishing, anyone?) and most methods of detecting/defeating rootkits have been unveiled. Furthermore, these conferences serve as what they are meant to be: symposia where researchers can talk and cross-pollinate ideas. Just as it is in the medical community, so it is in the computer security world.
The point isn't that the utility:pure science ratio is low, but rather that without them, little else can be accomplished as easily.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/449/34636#34636