Ethical?

[3PIL0GU3]

I was surprised about hearing about the new IPhone virus that was publically brought to my attention in the media today. Apparently it was written by a 21 year old student from Sydney in Australia.

The thing that disturbed me was that even though he had written a virus and distributed (a big no-no from an ethical hacker’s point of view) he recieved a few job offers. Is it just me or does this seem wrong?

I know people who are trying to break into this industry by doing stuff by the book, getting their certifcations trying to get work experience and literally studying their guts out to break into this field and a person with malicious intent can get job offers from releasing malicious code. Kind of defeats the object doesn’t it, opinion please.

[RoleReversal]

I’m sure everyone will have their own opinions on this, but this article from SCMagazine suggests that most still believe writing a virus to highlight a vulnerability is an acceptable way of raising awareness. Personally, I’m not so sure…

[slimjim100]

I feel if you just make a proof of concept that’s ok but releasing a real virus only can cause issues. In the end your true ethics will be tested and if a company is willing to risk the legal actions possible from an employee with such ethics then I guess they found there man. Just remember that any thing you do on the internet is forever and everything you do is just going to become a part of your rep so make sure you make wise decisions.

my 2 cents

Brian

[timmedin]

I’ll second the sentiment that the POC is ok, but the virus is not. That is an unauthorized attack on someone else’s equipment.

While a lawsuit may not be filed since the vulnerable iPhones are “illegal” since jailbreaking the iPhone is technically illegal.

[Author]

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