@Stake pulls pin on Geer: Effect on research and publication

From: Patrick J. Kobly (patrick_at_kobly.com)
Date: 09/26/03

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    Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:45:18 -0600
To: bugtraq@securityfocus.com

    CNET is reporting that @Stake fired Dan Geer yesterday:

    http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5082649.html

    Over a recent CCIA report coauthored by him, and released Wednesday:

    http://www.ccianet.org/papers/cyberinsecurity.pdf

    @Stake's comments - "The values and opinions of the report are not in
    line with @Stake's views" explaining Geer's termination are concerning
    for a company that claims "we must not be afraid to take things apart,
    understand how they work, and share that information with the world."
    [http://www.atstake.com/research/]

    It should be noted that the CCIA report tries to examine the Microsoft
    desktop monopoly, and its effect on the security of the Internet and
    the digital world at large. This is in direct line with @Stake's
    stated research objectives. The fact that the conclusions drawn may
    not be the same as those drawn by other @Stake researchers does not
    justify silencing this discussion.

    @Stake and other security companies and organizations need to act now
    to encourage discussion of root causes of insecurity on the net - even
    if these causes are not fundamentally technical in nature. It is, in
    fact, these causes - the political and economic ones - that are the
    most difficult ones to fix. As a result, it is these factors that
    must be brought into the public eye, exposed to more scrutiny, so that
    we may address them.

    What @Stake has done here is simply confirm to other security
    researchers that the publication of unpopular research will directly
    affect their pocketbooks. @Stake has set researchers' financial
    security and job security at odds with their professional ethics and
    research standards. Will the next researcher working at @Stake or
    Symantec, or Security Focus hesitate to publish controversial research
    because he is worried for his financial well-being?

    PK 

    -- 
"I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the
President next year."
  -- Wally O'Dell - CEO of Diebold, Inc. (One of the largest American
  manufacturers of election machinery)

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