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Denial of Service via Algorithmic Complexity
dss902 writes "We (Department of Computer Science, Rice University) present a new class of low-bandwidth denial of service attacks that exploit algorithmic deficiencies in many common applications' data structures... Using bandwidth less than a typical dialup modem, we can bring a dedicated Bro server to its knees; after six minutes of carefully chosen packets, our Bro server was dropping as much as 71% of its traffic and consuming all of its CPU. We show how modern universal hashing techniques can yield performance comparable to commonplace hash functions while being provably secure against these attacks."
How about if they are researching computer security?
Fine. Identify the problem, come up with a solution, then release THAT to the public.. at the very least to render yourself immune from any future legal reprocussions, however misguided they may be.
If I discovered a new poison that could be easily replicated with over the counter products, do I protect the public by releasing the recipie for it, or for the antidote?