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During the talk they told us why they called it meat pistol.. it's an anagram for metasploit. Meat Pistol made sense because it shoots out malware implants. Al
by defcontalks 9y ago
During the talk they told us why they called it meat pistol.. it's an anagram for metasploit. Meat Pistol made sense because it shoots out malware implants.
Also why pull out in the last 30 mins? And why fire them? No warnings ? Mistakes happen, you don't fire a director for something like that. The PR process is to make sure the company's image looks good, who better knows the Defcon audience? Hackers or PR people who don't understand the framework?
There is really no other way to see it than Salesforce fucked up.
- rsj_hn 9y ago>During the talk they told us why they called it meat pistol.. it's an anagram for metasploit. Meat Pistol made sense because it shoots out malware implants. OK, try getting a PR department to sign off on that.
- defcontalks 9y agoThe whole point is that they already knew about it before hand(It being called meatpistol, hence the previous meeting) so firing them 30 mins prior is bullshit, hence the drama. And they presented it at Hushcon before with approval so what's the problem with that?
- rsj_hn 9y agoAnd this is what I'm saying is unlikely, because, try getting a PR department to sign off on that.
- dom0 9y ago> And they presented it at Hushcon before with approval so what's the problem with that?
- rsj_hn 9y agoWhy do you think they got approval at Hushcon?
- defcontalks 9y agoBecause Salesforce did nothing after hushcon? Which means it would have been approved.. say if it wasn't approved, isn't that a failure on SF's part because the employees would think it's fine. I don't see why you keep defending Salesforce, they did mess up even if say the employees did not go through the approval process. You don't fire People over that, especially if previous talks are public on the same subject. Especially not at Defcon. That's why SF is in the wrong.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- PeanutCurry 9y agoThere's a lot of assumptions in this interpretation of events. It's entirely possible that warnings were issued after hushcon and that's why action was so severe this time around. It's also possible that no warnings were ever issued and there is blame for overreacting due to the management. Either way, it seems like there's plenty of information available for interpretation but not conclusion in this scenario.
- jlgaddis 9y agoNot all companies are like that. I developed an internal admin tool and called it RETARD (it's an acronym).
- foota 9y agoI'm glad I don't work at a company where that's an acceptable project name.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoOne dictionary I have at hand details five definitions of the word retard. Why do we have to feel obliged to take offense at the whole word due to one slang definition. Why should MEATPISTOL be a problem? retard 1. to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede. verb (used without object) 2. to be delayed. noun 3. a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine. 4. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person who is cognitively impaired. a person who is stupid, obtuse, or ineffective in some way: a hopeless social retard. 5. Automotive, Machinery. an adjustment made in the setting of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine so that the spark for ignition in each cylinder is generated later in the cycle.
- foota 9y agoI'm not offended and don't take issues with the use of retard in a non-slang context, but for the naming of a project I think it's inappropriate to use a word that could bring back hurtful memories of harassment that people have potentially endured.
- jackgavigan 9y ago> During the talk they told us why they called it meat pistol.. it's an anagram for metasploit. Meat Pistol made sense because it shoots out malware implants. I wonder why they didn't pick Metapistol.
- smokeyj 9y agoThere's a lot of things you can wonder, but they're not all worth mentioning.
- devrandomguy 9y agoWhat are you more likely to remember a week from now: Meatpistol or Metapistol? Reminds me of the resistor color code mnemonic, something I memorized for life the first time I heard it.
- nilved 9y agoWhat are you more likely to remember a week from now? Meatpistol, or motherfuckingshitcunt?
- devrandomguy 9y agoThe former, because it is both risque and clever. The latter is just rude and unrelated, and will be forgotten with the rest of the mental trash.
- yellowapple 9y agoThe original comment was flagged to oblivion, but I'm assuming it quoted one of the ones on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronic_color_code_mnemonics#Offensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronic_color_code_..., in which case - unless you feel inclined to start yet another Wikipedia edit war - it will probably not "be forgotten with the rest of the mental trash". I too hope that nobody actually uses such a mnemonic in this day and age, but for such a mnemonic to be forgotten entirely would be a massive loss. Whitewashing the past of its blatant racism and sexism will only serve to erase the reminders we as a society have of why the present is an improvement on the past. Every artifact of such archaic and abhorrent beliefs serves as yet another datapoint demonstrating the whole concept of "Mak[ing] America Great Again™" to be misguided at best and abhorrent at worst. In other words: we absolutely shouldn't be teaching such a mnemonic in classrooms, but we absolutely should continue to document their existence as evidence of exactly how fucked up the past really was.
- throw1away2 9y agoI've been to a talk where one of these two presenters informed a fairly public audience that HR had told them they were not allowed to present. They then continued telling a whole load of things about salesforce and eventually stopped even pretending to hide which company they worked for. Awesome talk because they said so much stuff you'd otherwise never hear leave the building. But color me unsurprised they were let go.
- throwaway_sf_hn 9y ago^^ Spot the Salesforce corporate communications team kicking in...
- mgamache 9y agoha good catch.
- lightedman 9y ago"Also why pull out in the last 30 mins?" Actively developing and planning to release a malware creation tool? That sounds like developing and releasing cyber weaponry. We've got export laws regarding that IIRC.
- lightedman 9y agoYea. EAR and ITA explicitly cover this, in fact.
- icebraining 9y agoWhich part, specifically? The only restriction on the EAR I see that applies is that on encryption, and Part 742.15(b) provides an explicit exception for software where the source is publicly available. That's why, for example, non-US citizens must request a special license to download the paid Metasploit version but can download the open source version freely[1]. [1] https://community.rapid7.com/community/infosec/blog/2015/06/13/response-to-the-us-proposal-for-implementing-the-wassenaar-arrangement-export-controls-for-intrusion-software https://community.rapid7.com/community/infosec/blog/2015/06/...
- lightedman 9y agoJournal of National Security Law and Policy, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2015. Quite the argument made there that EAR and ITA do indeed deal with the making and distribution of cyber weaponry.
- icebraining 9y agoThanks for the reference! I think that article only emphasises that it is not subject to those regulations. Quote: We conclude that, at a technical level, the distinction between weaponry and non-weapon malicious software lies in the payload component of the tool, which must be capable of creating destructive digital or physical effects Meatpistol is only a framework, therefore there's no payload component.
- GlobalServices 9y agoMaybe they were fired because Adria Richards said the suggestive name ״meat pistol" was keeping women out of tech.