discuss: virus writing HOWTO
Subject:
Re: virus writing HOWTO
From:
Stein Gjoen ####@####.####
Date:
26 Mar 2002 22:57:33 -0000
Message-Id: <3C9FAF24.5060808@mail.nyx.net>
David Merrill wrote:
> We got a submission of a Virus-Writing-HOWTO on the feedback address.
With a title like this we are sure set for at least 15 minutes of fame.
> I don't know whether to even consider it. The guy has the freedom to
> write it, but that doesn't mean we have to publish it. But what do you
> think?
The discussion is going too fast for my feed here so I'll just make
general remarks.
First of all we have to understand our users; who they are and what
they want. Someone reading a HOWTO does so to gain more knowledge on
a topic they are not an expert in. Therein lies the key.
If then a HOWTO is purely black-hat (Virus *writing*) it will be hard
for a non-expert to make constructive use of it. On the other hand if
it is white hat, emphasis on defence and just using some black hat
examples, it is more useful to the good guys than to the bad guys. A
purely black-hat HOWTO stacks the odds against the good guys.
I have read a little about the demographics of crackers. Mostly they
fall into two camps: the genuine elite who makes new tools but has
the cools not to abuse the skills. Then there is the computer vandals
with the maturity of 10-year olds, using the scripts they can find
purely to take down a site. It is not without a reason these are
called "script kiddies". I suspect this is the same group that maim
or kill themselves testing out the various explosives cookbooks out
there.
The Firewall Piecing HOWTO is, in my opinion, more useful for
the good guys than the black-hat crowd and has a natural place
in the HOWTO collection. I also feel that a virus authoring
HOWTO with no useful information of defence for the beginner
has no place in the LDP. Focus and purpose is the issue for me.
Then there is the issue of liability. In some countries crypto is
quite illegal no matter what purpose and punishment quite draconian,
even in countries generally regarded as civilized. I therefore feel
we should make it simple for mirror admins to opt out of mirroring
documents that could get them dispatched to the gulags. Debian has
non-free and non-US categories, perhaps we should consider something
similar.
Regards,
Stein Gjoen
