The security of UNIX

[edhall%rand-unix at sri-unix.UUCP]

A simple parable:

Foobar Home Development, Inc. builds a `status' housing tract.  Although
the locks Foobar put on the homes look secure enough, there exists a way
to open any lock in seconds with simple household tools, and without
making the entry obvious.

Johnny Admins, a resident of the new tract, discovers the problem quite
by accident.  He decides to print up some flyers describing the problem
and place them on the windshields of cars at a local shopping center.

Did Johnny do the right thing?

I think most people's answer would be `no'.

And I propose that posting computer security holes to a semi-public computer
bulletin-board, such as this, is equally as wrong.  The argument that
``security breaches are going to happen anyway whether we disclose their
techniques or not,'' doesn't work for me.

And I further propose that the reason why most of the readers of this forum,
myself included, don't think in these terms is that we are so involved in
the technical details of computing that we have lost all contact with the
moral implications of what we are doing.  The attitude of a lot of computer-
wise people I know is that ``if I can figure out a way of doing it, then
it must be OK to do (when it involves a computer).''
		*       *       *       *       *

It would probably be best if this discussion moved from Unix-Wizards to
a more appropriate forum.

		-Ed Hall