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> From a distance, white hat "vulnerability disclosures" start to look like a protection racket. A pretty big distance. If a mobster threatens to burn down a
by taatof 2y ago
> From a distance, white hat "vulnerability disclosures" start to look like a protection racket.
A pretty big distance.
If a mobster threatens to burn down a building unless you buy their "insurance", that's a protection racket.
If someone finds a major fire code violation and threatens to tell the fire marshal about it unless they fix it within a certain timeframe, that's not a protection racket, even though there's technically a threat involved. If the building owner is a dick about it, then next time that person will probably just go directly to the fire marshal.
- sdwr 2y agoIf the reporter is trying to get paid for not reporting, that's blackmail. If the blackmail is organized, it's a racket. Plus, if the attack surface is huge and/or fractal, you will never run out of exploits. The more you pay people to find them, the harder they look...
- taatof 2y ago> If the reporter is trying to get paid for not reporting, that's blackmail. That's not what happened here and isn't usually what happens, though? The reporter usually gives a timeline for fixing the bug before reporting externally, and often extends that deadline if it's clear the Company is working on it. This is separate from bug bounty payments. > The more you pay people to find them, the harder they look... Yeah... that's the point...
- lodovic 2y agoPeople will look for bugs regardless, better incentivize them to report to you first
- OfficeChad 2y ago[dead]