[news.sysadmin] It's not a personal issue

weemba@garnet.berkeley.edu (Obnoxious Math Grad Student) (11/10/88)

In article <5366@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>, spaf@cs (Gene Spafford) writes:
>1) Rick (and I and others) are hardly smug and complacent about
>security.

There has been enough posted evidence that smug complancy is in fact
running rampant out there.  My reply to Rick did not really accuse him
of anything, other than missing what the essential issues are.

>	    We're working on it, and have been working on it, for
>quite some time, although that is not our primary job.

Good for you.  But it takes more than crack programmers to implement
security on the ARPANET.  It takes committed management and computer
sysadmins.  And educated users.

>						         Just
>because we don't tell you and the Usenet about it doesn't mean
>we aren't acting on it.

Again: YOUR acting on it is nice, but hardly good enough.

>			  In fact, considering your behavioral
>aspects, not telling you about anything is an important part
>of a good security program.

I have my sources.  Believe me, I do.

Personally, I don't think you would know a good security program if
it bit you in the rear.  If you think flaming flamers like yourself
contributes to bad security, well, screw it, I'm not going to bother
explaining things.  Has a killing cold winter come early to Indiana,
or what?

>2) Some of us are concerned about ethical issues in addition to
>technical issues.

Ah yes, seizing the moral high ground.  How noble.  And ineffective.

>		    Too many people are not concerned with ethics,
>professionalism, liability, et. al.  and we see technology as not
>providing all the answers to important questions. That you are
>unconcerned with ethics does not seem surprising to many of us.

I am very concerned with the ethics here.  More about the ethics of
the "my ass is covered" mentality when dealing with security than with
the actual fate of one Robert T Morris Jr--which I suspect is going
to be very very rosy in the long run.

>3) Please, please insult Indiana some more -- it makes you appear so
>terribly clever and humorous.  You're so cute when you're rabid.

Well, since you asked so nicely, sure.

Warning: what follows might be offensive to Hoosiers, especially
the dumb ones who won't get them anyway:

    D: Jul qvq gur Ubbfvre puvpxra pebff gur fgerrg?
    N: Gb wbva gur Angvbany Thneq.

    D: Ubj znal Ubbfvref qbrf vg gnxr gb punatr n yvtug ohyo?
    N: Abar, gurl cersre erznvavat va gur qnex.

In article <5367@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>, spaf@cs (Gene Spafford) writes:
>I'm also damned tired of people praising the asshole who created the
>worm and telling us what a favor he did!

Why?  Are you PISSED OFF at the thought that management types might
now consider security important, thanks to the scary headlines?  I
really don't understand.

Also, what's happened to your vaunted professionalism?

ucbvax!garnet!weemba	Matthew P Wiener/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720