IRC and Security

[Jeff d'Arcy]

pmartin at uceng.UC.EDU (Paul Martin):
> I have just recently discovered a band of computer hackers/pirates that
> have been using the Internet to pirate commercial software.

...and now for the news.  I suspect that I know which group you're dealing
with; they're fairly well-known and will be dealt with shortly when enough
evidence against them has been gathered.

> there seems to be a common thread, IRC or Inter Relay Chat.  These people 
> told me that they were passing the passwords through IRC as well as meeting
> other hackers.  I believe that IRC has potential to do some good, however
> I believe that it attracts those with little to do with their time and those
> immature people who use IRC as a big teenage party line.

So?  That's hardly a crime.

> I urge all administrators
> who are interested in preventing unauthorized use of their system and who
> have IRC installed, to re-evauluate their desision to keep IRC.

Whoa, there!  What kind of anal-retentive BS is this?  Are you really trying
to blame the medium for the messages it carries?  If so, you might as well
shut down the Internet, because it has been used to perpetrate crimes since
long before IRC came along.  While you're at it, why don't we shut down the
phone system because drug dealers talk to their clients on the phone?  The
mail system will be next, because we all know that various illegal items are
routinely shipped that way.  Oh, I almost forgot: do you really think there
are no messages regarding illegal activities on the system you administer?

Think I'm getting carried away?  I'm only trying to illustrate where your
approach would take us, and it's not even much of a stretch.  Of *course*
some hackers use IRC, but THAT USE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR HACKING.
They just happen to hang out there, and while they're talking they exchange
passwords and such along with the daily news about their term papers and
non-existent love lives.  We live in an age of electronic communication (I
shouldn't have to tell you that, but you seem ignorant of the fact) and IRC
is one of the "street corners" the local hoodlums hang out on.  There's no
more benefit to banning IRC than to banning street corners.  Your action is
punishing an innocent population for the misdeeds of a few, which will only
convince that population of your ignorance and lack of concern.  Once they
recognize their qualities in you, an adversarial relationship between you
and your users is likely to develop, and your security problems will only
multiply.

Hmmm.  I guess you might think of that as job security.  Nice trick.


          Jeff d'Arcy, Generic Software Engineer - jdarcy at encore.com
The problem with maintaining an open mind is all the crap people throw into it