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Author of Paper Critical of Microsoft is Fired
chongo writes "Daniel E. Geer Jr., one of the primary authors of a
report
Reliance
On MS A Danger To National Security,
was fired from @stake Thursday morning.
@stake said that 'The values an opinions of the
report
are not in line with @stake's views' and that Geer's
participation was 'not sanctioned.'
Microsoft, who has worked closely with @stake
in the past, denied that it was involved in @stake's
decision to fire Dan." There might not be anything fishy going on at all, but that's no reason to stop making perfectly good conspiracy theories.
Gotta love those @stake guys. Here's a relevant quote from their website:
"@stake has assembled the best minds in digital security to help you understand and mitigate the security risks inherent in your business model, so that you can maximize the opportunity in front of you. We help you make the hard decisions about what matters most in your business, so that your security investment has the greatest impact. We work in the space where your business and technology meet, because we believe that this is where security is most powerful."
Talk about blowing it out both ends. You can read their ethical and guiding principles as well.
This is what l0pht has turned into?
If you sign an employment agreement, you'd better stick to it.
In particular, you shouldn't publish a paper without running it by corporate communications first. You especially shouldn't publish a paper that might be critical of a partner or customer without doing this. You know why? Exactly. You get fired. For violating your employment agreement. If you don't agree with the things that you signed, you shouldn't have signed them. Hell, even if you have permission to publish the paper, you might want to think twice about publishing a paper which is critical of a rather large customer.
When I worked at AOL, I tried to get some of the execs to realize that some of the employees could be a powerful force in the technical community to raise the image of the company. Just the ability to explain some of the things that weren't confidential, correct some of the misconceptions. It wouldn't be a magical transformation, but it would be an effort. And actually joining the community would be a big step. Peer review and PR oversight could both be used to help make sure that more incorrect information didn't go out, or that the wrong things didn't go out.
Noone wanted to talk about it. My assumption is that noone I got to wanted to rock the boat, and noone responsible trusted the employees. It's too bad really. But even with something like that in place, this type of paper would never pass muster. Not through a peer review, and not through PR. You just don't criticize a large customer. Especially a customer with as much money as Microsoft.
-Todd
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
For him to be canned over this report (which is excellent by the way), is awful. Other heavy hitters in infosec also collaborated on this report e.g. Schneier, Becky Bace, and Charles Pfleeger.
It's not so much that @stake doesn't have the right to fire him, but rather that it's a pity that they can't stand up to the truth. Not that corporations are known for their honor anyway. I would not trust a @stake with my business at this point-what's next? MS buying them into using their clearly superior security products?!
See Playboy vs. Terri Welles.
Statements of fact do not imply endorsement.
Terri Welles was, in fact, a Playmate. Playboy cannot restrict her from saying so, even by attempting to apply trademark law against Ms. Welle's use of the trademarked word "Playboy" in for commercial gain.
The fact that being able to claim to have been a Playboy Playmate gives her a certain professional standing in her field (tits) and she is free to use that standing for her own benefit even over the objections of Playboy.
Dr. Geer is (ok, was) the Chief Technical Officer of @Stake. This is a position of authority in a particular field and stating that one has that authority gives one's opinion in that field certain standing. It is a factual statement and does not imply endorsement by his employer. It only imlies that one has recognized special skills.
If people misconstrue that that is a problem of their understanding, just as it is if people believe that Ms. Welles' personal site is an official Playboy site because she lists her employment by Playboy.
That doesn't make her an infringer. It makes them morons.
If the guy down the street who works for a Ford dealership tells me that he thinks Fords suck I too would have to be a moron to believe that was the official position of his employer.
Whether or not that might be legal grounds for firing said employee is another issue. I'd have to review the relevant law in his jurisdiction and make an examination of his contract to have an opinion on that.
I'd think his employer was an asshole for doing it though, if he was otherwise performing his duites satisfactorally. That's just my opinion of course, which is colored by knowing many people who worked for companies they don't like. I've even worked for a few myself. Hell, I even owned one of those companies.
But I didn't fire myself.
KFG
OTOH, MS software and national security is probably not a life-or-death issue. At least, I hope it's not.
So, when a U.S. Navy missile cruiser has to be towed back to port because it's computers running MS Windows have crashed it's not life and death? What about the Dept. of Homeland Security using Microsoft products for their servers and workstations? How about the network operations centers and shore bases of the Navy using Microsoft for the servers and workstations?
Come on, Microsoft is wide spread and pervasive throughout the U.S. government. The State Department couldn't issue visa's because Welchia, which could be prevented by patching or anti-virus software, infected their network. An offline nuclear reactor had safety systems fail that were running Windows. Just what OS do you suppose the Army and Marine Corps battle computers are running? What would happen in a war if our enemy penetrated those battle networks with a worm of some sort? How much more do you need to be convinced that depending on seriously flawed software in the government is not only dangerous to national security but also a "matter of life and death".
In my universe I'm perfectly normal, it's not my fault you don't live in my universe.
Whistle-blowing is never a popular job, but it's even riskier during bad economic times. Most of the backlash against this employee is due to the spineless quivering, in management, about losing vital business. Once again, we see why monopolies are unhealthy for society.
What are you gonna do, though, if you're canned? The employment-at-will doctrine has essentially always allowed bosses to hire and dump whomever they wish for any reason; dear old kooky Walt Disney used to go nuts with this easily abused freedom, and the 1990s left a trail of shattered lives and communities behind the rapacious "downsizing" of workers. Except where protected by civil rights or state employment law (and good luck bringing a case!), this is where you stand as an employee in America - at the mercy of the Man's whims. Learn to kiss ass; learn to run your own business; learn to work for decent people; these are among the few options for workers, and guess which one is most popular.
But this is also a hysterical time politically. Under the New McCarthyism the pasture of sacred cows has been enlarged: now not only our Glorious Leader is supposed to be beyond reproach, but so are certain corporate entities. And by burrowing like a common bacterial spirochete into the guts of American national security, Microsoft has begun to undergo the transformation - symbolically - from mere lawless and sloppy monopolist to vital U.S. institution. Yesterday, MS merely brought you BSODs, viral weakness and data loss. Today, it defends America against her enemies with its arsenal of...er...BSODs, viral weakness and data loss.
If this transformation continues, it will be more and more costly to criticize Microsoft as it mutates into an adjunct of the security state. HomeSec is already MS's taxpayer-subsidized tech support service, busily issuing warnings about the latest viruses and worms. This relationship should be promptly terminated by the next administration when the adults get to run things again.