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Subject:Be careful what you post From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 7 Jan 2003 14:43:01 -0800 (PST)
Just a little note for this list.
I've noticed lately that some members on this list have been openly discussing
the technologies and projects at their employers. A lot of employers would
probably consider this information confidential, or at a minimum sensitive. As
such, disclosing this information in a public forum could get you in a lot of
trouble and even fired.
Part of the reason for this is hackers. Hackers (I mean good hackers, not the
cyberpunk buttheads they show in movies), regularly scan public forums for
information about targets. Posts that reveal operating systems, software,
design technologies, and even the state of projects can offer a would be hacker
a lot of valuable data. Some people have been openly posting this data. This
information along with where you work and the IP addresses from your messages
would allow a decent hacker to hack your company and set you up as a patsy.
When the men in black come, they won't go looking for the hacker. They'll show
up at your office (cubicle, home, etc.) And then you'll be standing tall before
a security guy like me who will take your hard drives. I know of plenty of
cases where employees were terminated for such activities.
So just a recommendation - be careful what you post here. You might want to
rethink your postings and "generalize" your questions. Try not to reveal the
technologies your company uses, locations, or certainly not the state of those
projects. Something like "we use FrameMaker" isn't very dangerous, but telling
us all exactly what platforms your customer processing systems could be.
This is especially important for any of you that work at large, public
companies or government agencies. These places are big targets for hackers, and
your posts could be inadvertently aiding them.
Andrew Plato
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