Of hackers and ego

Of hackers and ego
Don Parker, 2007-10-10

The world of computer security can often be a strange and compelling one. Many outsiders, or those with little knowledge of computers, just don’t understand the whole uproar over various issues, such as whether Microsoft Vista is more secure then Linux or Mac. It’s all moot as far as the general population is concerned. But, for those of us who work in the industry, it is just more grist for the mill.

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Disagree 2007-10-10
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-11
furiusg

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-11
HAL

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-11
Anonymous

Lynn was not forced out of his job. He quit. He quit because ISS had entered a contract with cisco. As part of ISS, he analyzed ciscos IOS, and found a way to execute arbitrary code. He also said that much of his research came from papers in the .cn underground.

He gave cisco all the details in March of that year if I remember correctly, and cisco refused to fix it. Not only did they not think it was a big deal, but they gave him permission to reveal PoC code at blackhat. Days before the event, cisco realized the severity of the situation, and tried to stop it.

Lynn started his talk by resigning from ISS, giving up a position in one of the top research groups in the world. From what I understand he did this because he believed that .cn was actively exploiting this vulnerability, and he wanted it fixed as soon as possible.

Michael Lynn is a hero, and I know few people in infosec with the balls to do what he did.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/454/34729#34729

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-11
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-11
Jason Gunnoe

You misunderstand Lynn's work 2007-10-11
dragonfrog

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-12
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-12
secure_it_y

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-12
Anonymous

skillz. 2007-10-12
batz

Companies Must Patch Issues In A Timely Manner 2007-10-12
Anonymous (1 replies)

Re: Companies Must Patch Issues In A Timely Manner 2007-10-16
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-13
Anonymous (1 replies)

Re: Of hackers and ego 2007-10-15
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego: Agree (mostly) 2007-10-15
Dr. Neal Krawetz

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-16
Anonymous (1 replies)

Re: Of hackers and ego 2007-10-17
Don Parker (1 replies)

Re: Re: Of hackers and ego 2007-10-18
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-16
IbeUID0

Of hackers and ego 2007-10-21
The Great Dongle

Of hackers and ego 2007-11-01
Anonymous

Of hackers and ego 2007-11-02
Gandalf