Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!mit-vax!mit-eddie!ll-xn!ames!amdcad!weitek!aimt!breck
From: breck@aimt.uu.net (Robert Breckinridge Beatie)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Getting Even
Message-ID: <1396@aimt.uu.net>
Date: 18 Nov 88 16:55:05 GMT
References: <367@execu.UUCP> <265@acheron.UUCP> <1636@pikes.Colorado.EDU>
Organization: AIM Technology, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 43

In article <1636@pikes.Colorado.EDU>, netnews@pikes.Colorado.EDU (Robert Sklar) writes:
> Fist off, I want to state that I have no bad feeling for the guy who created
> the virus, as we call it.  This has been confirmed as an experiment by a
> computer student that "accidently" went crazy and spread.  Not only that,
> but said individual also owned up to the fact that he did it.
> ...

OK, first of all, did he actually own up to it?  I thought that friends of
his came forward and told the authorities (and the press) about him.  I
never heard that he came forward and accepted responsibility for his actions.
I'd be feeling a lot more charitable towards him if upon realizing his
mistake he had come forward to help clean up the mess he had caused.  But
he didn't make any attempt to help eliminate the problem he caused.

> ... The fact that he created an experiment that was
> non distructive and even cleaned up after itself shows true realization of 
> the potential for distruction.

Well, doesn't that depend on why he had it "clean up after itself"?  I mean
if the only reason that it cleaned up was so people would be less likely
to find the new files sitting around or less likely to find some information
that might potentially lead back to him then his motives are less than
commendable.  If a burglar broke into your home and lifted your jewels
and then spent 10 minutes wiping his finger prints off your safe, or picking
up the tools he used to break in to your home would you commend him for
his tidyness?

Frankly the fact that he ran his little jewel of the programmers art on
a system with connections to the outside world, demonstrates an almost
complete disregard for the people he shares the internet with.  If he
was aware of the potential for disaster (and he must have been) and he
was just attempting an experiment, then he should never have run his worm
on a machine that was connected to the internet until he was sure that
it was debugged and containable.

> In conclusion, it is not anyones place to begin making judgements prior to
> having all the facts in a case like this.  Think about it!

And of course, it's pretty hard to disagree with that.
-- 
Breck Beatie	    				(408)748-8649
{uunet,ames!coherent}!aimt!breck  OR  breck@aimt.uu.net
"Sloppy as hell Little Father.  You've embarassed me no end."