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.