Thanks For Helping Fix Our Software -- We Won't Sue You This Time

from the small-thanks dept

A security company discovered some vulnerabilities in some Sybase code a couple weeks ago and handed them over to the company -- who did a good job of patching the problem relatively quickly. Then, things started to get messy, as the security company got ready to explain what the vulnerabilities were, leading Sybase to threaten to sue them. That's some thank you for finding the security hole. After a public backlash, Sybase has called off its legal dogs and issued an odd announcement "thanking" the company they were thinking about suing just a day before. It's amazing that this sort of thing keeps coming up. While this case had a bit of a twist, in that the bug was already patched, it's still all about a company trying to hide where its vulnerabilities are, rather than owning up to them. Security holes happen. Everyone knows that. The real question is how a company deals with them -- and that goes beyond just how quickly they patch the holes, but how they treat those who are helping them fix their software by finding the holes in the first place.