Security Basics: RE: Bank Exploit

["Burns, Doug" <burns_doug () bah com>]

 Unless you opt to keep completely quiet, my next step would be to hire
a knowledgeable attorney.

                     Doug 

-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com]
On Behalf Of Chris Halverson
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 5:34 PM
To: security-basics () securityfocus com
Subject: Re: Bank Exploit

Sign up an email account as one of your not so close "friends" and send
the email on their behalf.  :)

You could do so through a 3rd party, reputable security vendor such as
sophos or similar.  They might help with the information disclosure.

CH


On 7/25/07, Jax Lion <jv4l1n4 () gmail com> wrote:
> So Jason - what happened to your collegue?
>
> IMHO - I don't think option 2 is a good idea.  Questions will come up 
> such as - how did you discover the vulnerability in the first place.
> What were you doing... and it all goes downhill from there.
>
> I don't agree with keeping quiet either...
>
> Is there a medium where we can report the "accidental discoveries"
> without risk of prosecution?  Like a hot tip line with the FBI or 
> something.
>
>
> On 7/25/07, Jason Thompson <securitux () gmail com> wrote:
> > Risky... is this person a security professional?
> >
> > This has happened to one of my colleagues before as well. There are 
> > two solutions that are possible:
> >
> > 1) Do not reveal this or tell anyone about it. Leave it be. As there
> > is this heightened sense of urgency among banks to thwart potential 
> > attackers the person could be in trouble with the bank for simply 
> > discovering the issue. It really all depends on the person he or she
> > deals with there. Not saying it would hold up in court, it likely 
> > wouldn't, but anyone who has the ability to find exploits is 
> > generally regarded in a dim light by those who are uneducated on the
subject.
> > 2) Notify the bank's incident response team / security staff, OFFER 
> > a non-disclosure agreement to them saying that you will not disclose
> > this to anyone regardless of what actions the bank decides to take 
> > on their vulnerability, and state that this was discovered by 
> > accident and that he or she simply wants to notify them about the 
> > issue and IS NOT seeking ANY SORT of compensation. If they are 
> > notified and it follows with the statement 'I would be willing to 
> > help consult you on the solution for a small compensation' it 
> > instantly becomes extortion and this person will likely be thrown in
jail.
> > I am not a lawyer by any means, I am simply speaking from past 
> > experiences and what I have seen happen to those who did things the 
> > right way and the wrong way.
> >
> > Solution 2 is a lot easier if your friend's client works in 
> > information security and holds federal clearances and security 
> > designations. Real ones, not Cisco or something :)
> >
> > -J
> >
> > On 25 Jul 2007 13:34:29 -0000, securityz () delahunty com 
> > <securityz () delahunty com> wrote:
> > > Friend of mine (not me, really) is working with a client of his
who claims to have inadvertently discovered a few web exploits of
several financial institutions.  Does anyone have any insights as to how
this guy could bring these to the attention of the organizations
involved without being seen as a hacker?  His minimal goal is to help
the institutions, optimally he would like to consult to help them
rectify the issues.
> > > thx
> > >
> > > Steve