Message To Antivirus Industry: Only The Truth Shall Set You Free

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: "Junkmail Rosenberger" <junkmail () barnowl com>

[This is a parody of a recent op-ed by Richard Forno (Infowarrior.org)
that appeared here on ISN. The parody is directed at the antivirus
industry, not Forno.]

Message To Antivirus Industry: Only The Truth Shall Set You Free

News flash! Judge Kollar-Kotelly has granted the states access to
antivirus software source code as part of this phase of the anti-trust
ruling. Of course, the antivirus giant is against this action, and we
can only hope her decision stands.

If so, not only will this level the legal playing field in the case,
as Kollar-Kotelly says (by allowing the states to verify the antivirus
industry's claims about its products) but more importantly, allow IT
professionals to see exactly how secure (or insecure) antivirus
software really is, something that many security professionals have
been calling for a long time as the ONLY true way to verify and
validate the antivirus industry's claims about the stability,
security, and reliability of its pervasive antivirus systems. In the
industry's defense, releasing the code will go a long way in
curtailing the growing negative press and public sentiment about their
firms and their products, and could be an action that actually
generates business for them over the long-term.

Considering that nobody outside of the antivirus industry knows what
evil lurks in the millions of lines of code compromising antivirus
software, by granting external access to source, Kollar-Kotelly has
established the basis for what some would call the "ultimate
vulnerability disclosure" -- namely, finally discovering the truth
about an antivirus product's features, both documented and
undocumented, that are the scourge of the IT world yet the subject of
oddly few IT-security news stories over the past five years.

This is a long-overdue action, and I pray the decision stands.
(Actually, one could argue that this is the penultimate example of
what "responsible vulnerability disclosure" is all about...)

Releasing antivirus source code to the states (parties outside of the
industry with (hopefully) non-profit interests in justice and not
market dominance) would be one government-initiated action that
actually improves the security and assurance of America's critical
infrastructures and (by extension) the world's IT sector. This would
be a real, tangible, action that actually increases security, unlike
the FAA prohibitions on carrying Swiss knives, knitting needles, or
razors onboard a civil airliner.

As such, given that antivirus software protects some pretty
significant, critical systems in our financial, utilities, medical,
and defense sectors, releasing the source code for external evaluation
is not just a 'nice-to-have' but a MUST-HAVE as we move towards
effectively increasing the security of America's critical
infrastructures ... for the antivirus industry, it's the responsible
thing to do, given their much-ballyhooed 'focus' on security.

If the industry is truly committed to paying product security anything
more than PR lip-service (which many security professionals believe is
all they are doing,) they will embrace Kollar-Kotelly's decision as a
significant step in improving the security of -- and the public's
trust in -- their companies and their products. By releasing the
antivirus source code, the industry can prove to the world it has
nothing to hide and that it can be trusted as a purveyor of
mission-critical software. This likely would lead to a restored public
image and confidence in their companies, quite possibly leading to
increased business and sales. So it's a win-win for the antivirus
industry, assuming it ever gets over its corporate hubris and realizes
the potential long-term benefits it could reap by simply and
accurately complying with court orders.

> From a business perspective, the antivirus industry would be wise to
do the mature thing -- quietly take its court-ordered medicine
(ignoring how bad it might taste in the short-term) and realize that
it stands a good chance of getting much better in the long-term.

Thank you, Judge Kollar-Kotelly, for taking a pro-consumer and
pro-security position with your ruling, one that -- assuming it stands
and is correctly acted upon in the best interests of the country --
will be one of the few government actions actually (and effectively)
improving the security of America's critical infrastructures.

It would be a public service on an unprecedented scale.



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