Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!sgi!bam@rudedog.SGI.COM
From: bam@rudedog.SGI.COM (Brian A. McClendon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Right of reply, virus- public, private- a thin line
Summary: virus src == gun?
Message-ID: <27477@sgi.SGI.COM>
Date: 25 Feb 89 18:15:34 GMT
References: <415@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk> <14940@cup.portal.com> <689@snjsn1.SJ.ATE.SLB.COM>
Sender: daemon@sgi.SGI.COM
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 44

In article <689@snjsn1.SJ.ATE.SLB.COM>, greg@bilbo (Greg Wageman) writes:
> In article <14940@cup.portal.com> Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com writes:
> >I agree that this is a sensitive matter...  the  *ONLY*  time I ever tried
> >to surpress any Topic of discussion on GEnie was when the discussion of 
> >"Trojan Horses" got too close to discussing  ACTUAL  methods of destructive
> >programming..  (the term "virus" hadn't yet entered into things..)
> > 
> > [ ... deleted ... ]
> Suppressing the information???  What makes you think that you have any
> control of this?  The information on how to write a virus is present
> in any detailed system manual.  Any experienced programmed could write
> a *killer* virus from the information in the Developer's docs.  It
> doesn't always take a statement like "boot sectors make great places
> to hide viruses" for someone who's mind works that way to see this.
> The only information you are suppressing is that of how the current
> crop of viruses work, and therefore the means to stop them.
> 
> [ ... more deleted ... ]

There is an interesting parallel here between virus src code and _guns_.
If you make them available to everyone, then people can use the src
code to figure out ways to prevent attacks [_self_defense_].  But you
also open up the possibility that twits who wouldn't otherwise have
the ability to attack, get the code and create a mutant [_no_guns_for_
_the_insane_or_convicted_felons_].

The differences here are: You can't control who gets the src if you make
it public (EVERYONE gets it), and there are more people out there willing
to commit the almost unstoppable crime of mutation than there are those
who would actually kill someone with a gun.

Right now, any good coder with the appropriate manuals can write a 
nasty virus if they REALLY want to, but Joe 16-year-old (mind | body) 
who can barely understand assembly and knows nothing about the OS 
is out of luck.  Publish the srcs and, on a whim, he can write a mutation
either to attack his school computers or just for the hell of it, and he WILL.


--
			- brian

   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Brian McClendon bam@rudedog.SGI.COM ...!uunet!sgi!rudedog!bam 415-335-1110
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------