Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 23:24:41 -0700 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Ted Mittelstaedt <tedm@toybox.placo.com> Cc: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>, Matt Heckaman <matt@LUCIDA.CA>, Kris Kennaway <kris@obsecurity.org>, FreeBSD-ADVOCACY <freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: FreeBSD Ports Security Advisory: FreeBSD-SA-01:INSERT_NUMBER_HERE Message-ID: <3A88D329.6D5F9ACE@softweyr.com> References: <000401c094b3$4f1050a0$1401a8c0@tedm.placo.com>
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Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>
> All this hairsplitting boils down to the old argument of when
> the CEO or investor or bank investigator asks any programmer
> or administrator "Is the system secure" we all just smile and nod
> and say that it is, all the while knowing that it's impossible
> to make anything 100% secure. And the security industry is the
> worst about it, because not only do they know that nothing
> is truly secure, but they get paid every day for telling people
> that software and devices are secure that cannot in theory be 100%
> secure.
If that's what your security vendors are telling you, you should fire
them. Anyone worth the cost of a phone call in the security industry
will gladly tell you all the things they *can* secure, but will never
make any claims at all about securing everything.
This, of course, has nothing to do with security *salesmen*. They are,
after all, salesmen, you can tell if they're lying by determining if
their lips are moving. Yes == they're lying, No == they're inventing
more lies.
Or, as the old joke says, what's the difference between a (security)
software salesman and a used car salesman?
The car salesman *knows* when he's lying.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
wes@softweyr.com http://softweyr.com/
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