Surprise: Attempt To Suppress Security Research Blows Up In Company's Face
from the instant-karma dept
The big story out of last week's Black Hat security conference was that HID Global, a maker of RFID-based door entry cards, managed to prevent a demonstration of how their products were vulnerable to cloning. What made their threats particularly odious was their claim that the presenters were somehow engaging in patent infringement by demonstrating the attack. More broadly, however, this kind of intimidation is almost always a mistake. It only made the company look like bullies with something to hide. It seems that the company may already be paying the consequences for its heavy-handed actions, as the DHS is said to now be examining the vulnerability further. HID Global is now backtracking, saying that it never intended to prevent the presentation from happening, although they don't seem to explain how everybody got that impression. Either way, any hope that the company had in keeping this threat quiet is now totally lost.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Hmmm...
May I suggest that they take the lawyer who wrote the letter AND the president of HID out, and, in public, string them up by their thumbs and give them fifty scarring lashes?
Of course, this is NOT intended to advocate any sort of punitive action against HID or anyone associated with it.
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DHS? Really?
I'm not sure on what grounds the DHS is investigating this. I mean, not unless it's personal or something.
"Hey, Bob, come check this article out."
"Hmmm. Yeah? So?"
"Well, aren't those the keycards that WE use?"
"Ohhhhhh.... shit."
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Re: DHS? Really?
This is one DHS effort which, at last, doesn't make them look bumbling and stupid.
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Patent Laws Should Stop ID Theft
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Our evaluation
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