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> Grey-hat hackers are rewarded based on the number and severity of CVEs that they write. This results in a proliferation of CVEs that have minor impact, or no

by hsn915 5y ago

> Grey-hat hackers are rewarded based on the number and severity of CVEs that they write. This results in a proliferation of CVEs that have minor impact, or no impact at all, but which make exaggerated impact claims. Makes sense. Reminds me of a story about people growing snakes so they can then kill them and report the killing and get a reward for it.

m12k 5y ago
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure (common paraphrase of Goodhart's law)
tpetry 5y ago
It's the cobra effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_original_cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_origina...
Natfan 5y ago
You probably mean the "Cobra Effect", a form of perverse incentive[0]: The term "cobra effect" was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdote of an occurrence in India during British rule. The British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi, offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially, this was a successful strategy; large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising people began to breed cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, the reward program was scrapped. When cobra breeders set their now-worthless snakes free, the wild cobra population further increased. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
- bambax 5y ago
  There is the exact same story about rats in Indochina during the French occupation. In fact the stories are so similar that one wonders if they were not specially crafted to demonstrate the incompetence of the colonial rulers.
  - unixhero 5y ago
    They are so similar because they show a basic principle behavioral economics.
    - bambax 5y ago
      Yes, maybe. Or, they are parables.
- smitty1e 5y ago
  I read somewhere that when scholars offered per-piece bounties on ancient manuscripts found in caves, the herdsmen scouring the caves would drive up their profit by cutting up the finds. Incentives work.

by hsn915 5y ago

m12k 5y ago

When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure (common paraphrase of Goodhart's law)

tpetry 5y ago

It's the cobra effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_original_cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive#The_origina...

Natfan 5y ago

You probably mean the "Cobra Effect", a form of perverse incentive[0]: The term "cobra effect" was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdote of an occurrence in India during British rule. The British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi, offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially, this was a successful strategy; large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising people began to breed cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, the reward program was scrapped. When cobra breeders set their now-worthless snakes free, the wild cobra population further increased. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive

bambax 5y ago
There is the exact same story about rats in Indochina during the French occupation. In fact the stories are so similar that one wonders if they were not specially crafted to demonstrate the incompetence of the colonial rulers.
- unixhero 5y ago
  They are so similar because they show a basic principle behavioral economics.
  - bambax 5y ago
    Yes, maybe. Or, they are parables.
smitty1e 5y ago
I read somewhere that when scholars offered per-piece bounties on ancient manuscripts found in caves, the herdsmen scouring the caves would drive up their profit by cutting up the finds. Incentives work.