If you focus on the high-level requirements, it is certainly easy to take them out of context.
Quoted from the PCI document [1], "Malicious software, commonly referred to as âoemalwareââ"including viruses, worms, and Trojansâ"enters the network during many business approved activities including employeesâ(TM) e-mail and use of the Internet, mobile computers, and storage devices, resulting in the exploitation of system vulnerabilities. Anti-virus software must be used on all systems commonly affected by malware to protect systems from current and evolving malicious software threats."
Is Linux commonly affected by malware? No auditor is going to expect UNIX servers to have anti-virus software installed.
Item 6, "Ha!"... nevermind the multiple detailed requirements under the high level bullet.
PCI is fantastic. It allows IT departments leverage to implement sometimes costly best practices that companies prefer to consider cost centers.
Mike Perry did a great public service by making this tool and making it available.
WTF? No he didn't. Pointing out the vulnerability is a a public service, yes. Giving a talk where he outlines the problem? Also a public service. Distributing the means for anyone to make use of this vulnerability (ESPECIALLY when so many major vendors aren't prepared for it yet) is not a public service anymore. It's just arming script kiddies. Ralph Nader was able to do plenty of good without going around ramming into Chevy Corvairs to somehow "drive home" the need for a fix.
Security through obscurity is not security.
Full disclosure is a good thing. Unfortunately, the commercial focus of the Internet allows people to forget.
Not fully disclosing the nature of the vulnerability only minimizes one's ability to completely assess the circumstance.
Using irrelevant and inapplicable metaphors does not further your point.
Although RFP's policy [1] does not particularly address vulnerability assessment methodology, it is what I often like to reference when this comes up.
It has long been considered best practice to not identify that a user is valid in case of failure, as this can allow login harvesting. In case of privacy, I wouldn't necessarily disagree.
So what if KDE won no awards? If I wanted to use Windows, I would run Windows; it has a better interface anyway. (Spare me the flames, I care not.)
Seriously though, I am not out to bash KDE, to each their own. I am not a big fan of GNOME either, just another excuse to eat resources. That is what Enlightenment is for.
Enlightenment won best unix desktop *eyecandy* -- KDE and GNOME have very little *eyecandy*.
I am not too fond of the default Enlightenment theme. Nevertheless, you must agree that it is hard for a Blackbox theme to win the 'best theme' award. Enlightenment, overall, has the most eyecandy when it comes to themes. Blackbox is an excellent windowmanager. In fact, I am running it now. Nevertheless, it is simplistic. To reiterate, Enlightenment, overall, has really neat stuff when it comes to themes.
Quit complaining about it being 'one-sided.' Did you vote for what you liked? Good, you got your side in. If not, too bad, you should have. This was not intended to be a big deal anyway, it was just for fun.
I was slightly shocked when I read this report and saw 90% of negative comments. Why must everybody be so negative? Do you always have to go out of your way to attack Slashdot or something they have done? Opinions differ, get used to it, and deal. You are not 12 any more, try acting like it.
You people might enjoy life more if you quit whining.
As a result of this discussion/Slashdot post I have written an editorial for my Web site. I thought that it may be of interest to the Slashdot community, or at least the people participating in this discussion.
You can read the editorial at: http://projectgamma.com/news/editorials/bbses.shtm l
Talkers are poorly coded resource hogs. Many a talker has brought an excellent system to its knees, or at least crippled it. Not to mention a poor alternative to IRC.
I was not going to post, but what the hell. Time to waste some time that I do not have!
I first started on BBSes with my good ol' trusty 2400. I remember spending 10 minutes to download a 50k DOOM wad, those were the later years that I had it. Hayes, of course.
I called all the local boards in 614 and actively participated in the community. I stuck to a lot of the 'underground' scene and participated in the more tight-knit boards. Boards such as Computeen were not good for much more than their active LORD, which I was kicking ass in.
I participated in a local FreeNET, my first introduction to the Internet. I mainly used it for Usenet and I used the e-mail account that they had available. I generally avoided using the Internet; I was not very big on it. I preferred the more tight-knit BBS scene where everybody knew everybody.
Gamma Force BBS -- the first real incarnation of Gamma Force, and the first board that I ran. I had co-sysoped a couple boards before but this was the first one that I truly ran. I had a whole lot of fun too. Many a late night I spent working with the board, talking to a user or two.
It originally ran on VBBS (Virtual BBS) and I eventually switched to Iniquity. Iniquity is a pretty nice board, and development is still going on. On another note, Iniquity is also what brought me to having my nick with lowercase vowels. It was a 'feature' in the software and I thought it looked neat. I decided to stick with it to recognize my 'roots.; This was before all the '133t crap.'
After I had gF BBS up for awhile, I managed to get a 14.4. That was back when they were first available and still pretty expensive. I remember when I first dialed up a board and the ANSI loaded so quickly. I nearly cheesed my pants. No more laggy ANSI on the 2400! Stuff was pretty cool then. In my eyes, it was the peak of the scene.
I had gF BBS up for nearly 2 years. I had approximately 400 users. I forget how many calls a day. I was still only one node. I think I managed to hit 28.8 before I took the board down. That was when I first started to spend more time with the Internet.
Every now and then, I would waste a few hours fraggin' away in DOOM. Nothing taught you how to wupp some ass more than getting yourself gibbed, repeatedly. I would go into this more, but it is off topic.
I still spent most of my time with the BBS scene but I had started to explore the Internet. That was back when IRC was still in its infancy. Nobody cared too much about the Web. Mosiac, ew. No frames, no tables, no font face tags. Lynx anyone?
I also had begun to experiment with Linux during that time period. Slackware 2.0, baby. Kernel 1.0.28 (I think, something like that). But that is another story.
Most people had started to shut down their boards. A lot of the greats were shutting down; the scene was starting to die. I kept the board around for a bit longer, as long as possible. Then I started to have computer problems, HD failures and what not. It just began to be so much trouble to keep the board up it was not worth it. I solemnly decided to end the legacy, as short as it may have been, of Gamma Force BBS. It was a helluva ride.
Where is Gamma Force now? I have it archived on my hard drive somewhere. Maybe one day I will get a wild hair and decide to put it back up as a telnet board, for nostalgia reasons. We shall see what the future holds.
Gamma Force's main project is currently Gamma Force IRC Network. It has been running for about 4 years now. Still small, not very successful. We have been around longer than some of the big networks, but hey. It started out private and we may make it private again unless we decide to get it going again. Twenty users just do not cut it anymore.
There is also Project Gamma, a sister project of gF.
We have other things planned; we have had other projects. We will always remember Gamma Force BBS. Those were some great times. Unfortunately, they are a thing of the past. We now have the Internet, and things have changed a lot. A whole lot.
That was definitely a trip down nostalgia lane.
(Disclaimer: Most of this stuff is from memory, some cloudy. All apologies for any inaccuracies, it is all from memory.)
You have a link to the New York Times 'report,' which is a bunch of FUD, yet you do not link the Forbes article, which is more subjective and has a generally better perspective. That is rather lacking.
At the very least, I would have linked them both, to give a more complete perspective. I would not consider OSAll's 'boycott AntiOnline campaign' a good comparison, in all honesty.
Perhaps you were just not aware of the Forbes article. (I forget whether you reported it in the past.) If that is the case, you are forgiven.
Please take a moment to read the Forbes article if you are truly interested in this subject. It is available at: http://www.forbes.com/columnists/penenberg/1999/09 27.htm
MP3 could completely revolutionize the way things work with music right now. I would love to see MP3 be the reason that record labels were abolished, or at least cut down. It, in the end, gives more power to the artist. It is what people want. With the record labels gone, music could be exactly that, music; without all the crap the labels add to it. I would love to see that happen. MP3 is going to make that happen.
Slashdot Mirror
We're celebrating in Columbus, OH this evening at the Three Legged Mare...
http://eevent.com/lopsa-columbus/2013sysadminday
Events all over the place, more listed here...
https://lopsa.org/content/sysadmin-day-events
LOPSA has a significant discount for renewing members and new members until Sunday...
https://lopsa.org/content/sys%C2%A0admin-day-discount-until-728
Happy System Administrator's Day!
Was this supposed to be moderated Funny?
If you focus on the high-level requirements, it is certainly easy to take them out of context.
Quoted from the PCI document [1], "Malicious software, commonly referred to as âoemalwareââ"including viruses, worms, and Trojansâ"enters the network during many business approved activities including employeesâ(TM) e-mail and use of the Internet, mobile computers, and storage devices, resulting in the exploitation of system vulnerabilities. Anti-virus software must be used on all systems commonly affected by malware to protect systems from current and evolving malicious software threats."
Is Linux commonly affected by malware? No auditor is going to expect UNIX servers to have anti-virus software installed.
Item 6, "Ha!" ... nevermind the multiple detailed requirements under the high level bullet.
PCI is fantastic. It allows IT departments leverage to implement sometimes costly best practices that companies prefer to consider cost centers.
I'm still hoping you're just trying to be funny.
[1] https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/download.html?id=pci_dss_v1-2.pdf
Mike Perry did a great public service by making this tool and making it available.
WTF? No he didn't. Pointing out the vulnerability is a a public service, yes. Giving a talk where he outlines the problem? Also a public service. Distributing the means for anyone to make use of this vulnerability (ESPECIALLY when so many major vendors aren't prepared for it yet) is not a public service anymore. It's just arming script kiddies. Ralph Nader was able to do plenty of good without going around ramming into Chevy Corvairs to somehow "drive home" the need for a fix.
Security through obscurity is not security.
Full disclosure is a good thing. Unfortunately, the commercial focus of the Internet allows people to forget.
Not fully disclosing the nature of the vulnerability only minimizes one's ability to completely assess the circumstance.
Using irrelevant and inapplicable metaphors does not further your point.
Although RFP's policy [1] does not particularly address vulnerability assessment methodology, it is what I often like to reference when this comes up.
[1] http://www.wiretrip.net/rfp/policy.html
It has long been considered best practice to not identify that a user is valid in case of failure, as this can allow login harvesting. In case of privacy, I wouldn't necessarily disagree.
they wear prehistoric, Flintstones-style clothes, but also have time to do dreadlocks
/grown/. If it is 'created,' it would not be considered a dreadlock.
Dreadlocks are
White Vampire\Rem
So what if KDE won no awards? If I wanted to use Windows, I would run Windows; it has a better interface anyway. (Spare me the flames, I care not.)
Seriously though, I am not out to bash KDE, to each their own. I am not a big fan of GNOME either, just another excuse to eat resources. That is what Enlightenment is for.
Enlightenment won best unix desktop *eyecandy* -- KDE and GNOME have very little *eyecandy*.
I am not too fond of the default Enlightenment theme. Nevertheless, you must agree that it is hard for a Blackbox theme to win the 'best theme' award. Enlightenment, overall, has the most eyecandy when it comes to themes. Blackbox is an excellent windowmanager. In fact, I am running it now. Nevertheless, it is simplistic. To reiterate, Enlightenment, overall, has really neat stuff when it comes to themes.
Quit complaining about it being 'one-sided.' Did you vote for what you liked? Good, you got your side in. If not, too bad, you should have. This was not intended to be a big deal anyway, it was just for fun.
I was slightly shocked when I read this report and saw 90% of negative comments. Why must everybody be so negative? Do you always have to go out of your way to attack Slashdot or something they have done? Opinions differ, get used to it, and deal. You are not 12 any more, try acting like it.
You people might enjoy life more if you quit whining.
Kind regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
This is probably a reiteration on previous comments however I feel the need to voice my opinion.
Your comment, regardless of whether or not it was a joke, is just a tad much. Implant at birth, my ass. We have little privacy as it is.
I really cannot even understand how someone could say such a thing.
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
As a result of this discussion/Slashdot post I have written an editorial for my Web site. I thought that it may be of interest to the Slashdot community, or at least the people participating in this discussion.
m l
You can read the editorial at: http://projectgamma.com/news/editorials/bbses.sht
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
Talkers are poorly coded resource hogs. Many a talker has brought an excellent system to its knees, or at least crippled it. Not to mention a poor alternative to IRC.
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
Perhaps you want a 'safe' community but that would be best left to a BBS, or some other small 'community' outlet.
As far as the Internet, a large network of computers providing information, censorship would be in utterly poor taste. To say the very least.
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
I first started on BBSes with my good ol' trusty 2400. I remember spending 10 minutes to download a 50k DOOM wad, those were the later years that I had it. Hayes, of course.
I called all the local boards in 614 and actively participated in the community. I stuck to a lot of the 'underground' scene and participated in the more tight-knit boards. Boards such as Computeen were not good for much more than their active LORD, which I was kicking ass in.
I participated in a local FreeNET, my first introduction to the Internet. I mainly used it for Usenet and I used the e-mail account that they had available. I generally avoided using the Internet; I was not very big on it. I preferred the more tight-knit BBS scene where everybody knew everybody.
Gamma Force BBS -- the first real incarnation of Gamma Force, and the first board that I ran. I had co-sysoped a couple boards before but this was the first one that I truly ran. I had a whole lot of fun too. Many a late night I spent working with the board, talking to a user or two.
It originally ran on VBBS (Virtual BBS) and I eventually switched to Iniquity. Iniquity is a pretty nice board, and development is still going on. On another note, Iniquity is also what brought me to having my nick with lowercase vowels. It was a 'feature' in the software and I thought it looked neat. I decided to stick with it to recognize my 'roots.; This was before all the '133t crap.'
After I had gF BBS up for awhile, I managed to get a 14.4. That was back when they were first available and still pretty expensive. I remember when I first dialed up a board and the ANSI loaded so quickly. I nearly cheesed my pants. No more laggy ANSI on the 2400! Stuff was pretty cool then. In my eyes, it was the peak of the scene.
I had gF BBS up for nearly 2 years. I had approximately 400 users. I forget how many calls a day. I was still only one node. I think I managed to hit 28.8 before I took the board down. That was when I first started to spend more time with the Internet.
Every now and then, I would waste a few hours fraggin' away in DOOM. Nothing taught you how to wupp some ass more than getting yourself gibbed, repeatedly. I would go into this more, but it is off topic.
I still spent most of my time with the BBS scene but I had started to explore the Internet. That was back when IRC was still in its infancy. Nobody cared too much about the Web. Mosiac, ew. No frames, no tables, no font face tags. Lynx anyone?
I also had begun to experiment with Linux during that time period. Slackware 2.0, baby. Kernel 1.0.28 (I think, something like that). But that is another story.
Most people had started to shut down their boards. A lot of the greats were shutting down; the scene was starting to die. I kept the board around for a bit longer, as long as possible. Then I started to have computer problems, HD failures and what not. It just began to be so much trouble to keep the board up it was not worth it. I solemnly decided to end the legacy, as short as it may have been, of Gamma Force BBS. It was a helluva ride.
Where is Gamma Force now? I have it archived on my hard drive somewhere. Maybe one day I will get a wild hair and decide to put it back up as a telnet board, for nostalgia reasons. We shall see what the future holds.
Gamma Force's main project is currently Gamma Force IRC Network. It has been running for about 4 years now. Still small, not very successful. We have been around longer than some of the big networks, but hey. It started out private and we may make it private again unless we decide to get it going again. Twenty users just do not cut it anymore.
There is also Project Gamma, a sister project of gF.
We have other things planned; we have had other projects. We will always remember Gamma Force BBS. Those were some great times. Unfortunately, they are a thing of the past. We now have the Internet, and things have changed a lot. A whole lot.
That was definitely a trip down nostalgia lane.
(Disclaimer: Most of this stuff is from memory, some cloudy. All apologies for any inaccuracies, it is all from memory.)
References:
Gamma Force
Project Gamma
Iniquity
pG editorial - Times Are Changing - More on the whole 'BBS' thing and the lowercase vowels.
Project Gamma, Introduction - Read this if you want more information about the above.
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
You have a link to the New York Times 'report,' which is a bunch of FUD, yet you do not link the Forbes article, which is more subjective and has a generally better perspective. That is rather lacking.
9 27.htm
At the very least, I would have linked them both, to give a more complete perspective. I would not consider OSAll's 'boycott AntiOnline campaign' a good comparison, in all honesty.
Perhaps you were just not aware of the Forbes article. (I forget whether you reported it in the past.) If that is the case, you are forgiven.
Please take a moment to read the Forbes article if you are truly interested in this subject. It is available at: http://www.forbes.com/columnists/penenberg/1999/0
Regards,
WHiTe VaMPiRe\Rem
MP3 could completely revolutionize the way things work with music right now. I would love to see MP3 be the reason that record labels were abolished, or at least cut down. It, in the end, gives more power to the artist. It is what people want. With the record labels gone, music could be exactly that, music; without all the crap the labels add to it. I would love to see that happen. MP3 is going to make that happen.