> "The term actually originates in the warez scene" A full etymology would certainly be interesting, but I was trying to stick to the subject matter at hand.

> "The term actually originates in the warez scene" A full etymology would certainly be interesting, but I was trying to stick to the subject matter at hand. > "It was obviously known to someone if malware was written." Again, in the context of security, 'known' -- at least as far as I've ever heard it used -- is shorthand for known to the security-minded public and/or to the vendor. It could be known to a million black-hats writing a million exploits and that still counts as 'unknown' until the day someone discloses it to the wider public and/or the vendor.