, 2008-01-23
"Mommy, can I have a cookie?"
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OS utilities and public "keys"
2008-01-23
Ole Juul (1 replies)
Ole Juul (1 replies)
Mother, May I?
2008-01-24
Thomas Downing (1 replies)
Thomas Downing (1 replies)
Internet as Commons
2008-01-28
Mark D. Rasch (1 replies)
Mark D. Rasch (1 replies)
Not much of a cheese shop, is it?
2008-01-24
Mitch Smith (2 replies)
Mitch Smith (2 replies)

Now gaining access to wireless networks is another ball of wax, because any joe blow can go out and get one and may not set it up properly. In this case it is the fault of the manufacturer for not giving it a sane configuration. Would we allow companies to make self-loading guns that if not configured properly can go off anytime killing anyone unlucky enough to get in the way of it? No, of course not.
So why are so many "get out of jail free" cards given to experts and professionals and corporations that fail to make and configure computers and computer equipment correctly?
As far as the host -l command, where is it documented that it's an unauthorized activity? How would an aspiring computer geek come to know that it might not be meant for querying external computer networks?
Lastly, I take issue with your way of speaking about computer statements. You refer to them as commands, but what you are speaking of are really requests. You issue a request for information, and get a response. You give a command that makes an action happen, to which you may or may not get confirmation or information back from. host -l is a query, a question, a poser to a local or remote computer. It's something that doesn't have to be answered. In this case through the negligent conduct of the computer staff it was left improperly configured to respond to queries from the external network. It would be a logical conclusion of an expert or wannabe expert that it was left open intentionally on a big powerful company server. Again, if it was on a joe's fly-by-night company it might be he configured it himself and didn't know what he was doing. But that's an unlikely scenario.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/463/34875#34875