Re: [MLUG] New Worms Seek And Destroy Code Red

["Dev Null" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

"Mikhail Kovalenko" <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:

> Your point is well understood, and I don't want to start an argument,
> but... If your PC (hypothetically speaking) infects mine with a
> destructive worm, even if you weren't aware of that, neither you nor
> your PC asked my permission for it, either. So I may feel obligated to
> take preventive measures on my part to ensure that doesn't happen.

That's easy.

1. Keep YOUR box secure.  Be a sensible admin, take care of your stuff, run
the patches and updates, keep yourself informed.  That way, you reduce your
chances of being infected.

2. If/when you ARE under attack, be responsible and contact at least one of
the people who's showing up in your logs.  Or their ISP.  Refer them to the
patch/update site.  Deny them in your firewall if it makes you feel better.

A counter-attack is NOT a preventive measure.  "Preventing the crime" with
computers is keeping the box secure, stable, and up-to-date, just as locking
my door is a preventive measure to prevent burglary.  I don't sit on a roof
shooting passers-by "just in case."

> It's so easy for a PC user to play dumb and say "Oh, it's just my
> computer/software/harware that infected you; I never would have done
> that! But don't you dare to fix it!" and suffer no consequenses, it's
> not even funny.

No, it's not.  And neither is your point of view.

It is NOT your responsibility to fix my machine from afar.  You do NOT have
the right (or privelege) to reconfigure my settings because it makes you
feel better.  On the other hand, it IS your responsibility as an admin to
keep your stuff healthy and notify others if they're making your life less
comfortable.  The only instance this would be ethical would be (as was
pointed out earlier) releasing something like this WITHIN a closed network.
And if it gets out, it's your bacon, my friend.  8)

Consider, for a moment, if a large company decided to release a "patch" for
IIS, and forcefully applied it to every machine they could find.  You bet
your bippy they'd be knee-deep in litigation.  Why?  It's intrusive,
illegal, and unethical.  You, the admin, are not the computing equivalent of
Emergency Services.  If there's a house on fire, you don't run out with your
garden hose.  You call the Fire Dept.  It's not your job as a citizen.

Yeah, vigilante justice looks cool.  On the other hand, I'd rather not be
responsible for other people's f*ckups, much less being the guy who's "fix"
damaged some big corporate network (or knocked down some hardware with
excessive load, or caused ISPs to block port 80 AGAIN, and so forth).

T3/Dev
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