Aleph1 Passes The Bugtraq Baton

Rogue_F writes: "The long running security mailing list Bugtraq is getting a new moderator. Elias Levy (the real name of the familiar Aleph1) has decided to move on to other things. For nearly six years he has been moderating bugtraq with a high degree of success. No one doubts the usefulness of bugtraq, but many people probably dont appreciate what a 'clean' list it is. No spam, no flames, no relgious security wars, instead you get good wholesome security information. Aleph1 details in this message that he is moving on to other security projects and that David Ahmad is taking over moderation duties. Bugtraq continues to churn out quality security information on a daily basis, and it looks like it will continue to do so for quite some time to come." List moderators and maintainers seem universally denied their due credit -- people like Zack Brown (of Kernel Traffic fame) end up getting noticed only when --infrequently -- they go on vacation.

Comments

An interview with Elias Levy

[Black Acid]

Now that Elias Levy has moved on it may be interesting to read an interview done by UnderLinux. Aleph1 explains his philosophy behind security - recommended reading for anyone interested. Levy is wise enough not to take sides on whether GNU/Linux or OpenBSD are secure. Here's a good quote:

UnderLinux: One time surfing on the web I see this phrase : "Wanna defeat hackers..think like a hacker.. work like a security expert". What you think about this ?
Aleph1 : A cliche, but a valid one. When creating defensive security technologies you must test them by attempting to defeat them before others do. Therefore you do not only require a defensive mindset but also an offensive one. Not only that but you must be better and more through than the ones you are defensing from. As a defender you must find and fix all possible avenues of attack. As an attacker you must only find and exploit one.

This guy is brilliant. Hopefully the new moderators will be able to live up to Elis Levy's wisdom.

Alfred Huger is leaving the incidents list too

[Akatosh]

Alfred Huger is leaving the security focus incidents list. Kind odd that they all quit at once.

Running a Mailing List is Hard Work...

[Black Art]

Having run about 18+ mailing lists (all at the same time), I know just how much work it is. (One of those lists was very heavy traffic.)

Not only do you have to deal with keeping things on traq, but you have to deal with all the other problems that people never see.

* Bounced mail when people drop their e-mail accounts. (And it is even more fun when it turns out to be forwarded from some other account.)

* Dealing with clueless users who accuse your domain of being a spam service when some piece of spam gets past your filters. (And informs your ISP and his ISP and you get to spend a few days digging out the mess.)

* People who are too clueless to figure out how to unsubscribe.

* Admins who are too clueless to figure out how to unsubscribe a user, but are clued enough to find your home phone number and call you demanding that you unsubscribe them.

* People who were subscribed by someone else and have no clue what a mailing list even is...

* Running Linux out of file handles. (It was an old kernel.)

* Dealing with all the complaints when the system melts, the system gets moved, things get weird with the system clock and/or plain demonic possession.

And all sorts of other things that ate at my insides.

And you get little or no thanks for any of it.