eBay for 0-Day Unlikely To Hack it

from the bug-juice dept

This past week, a Swiss firm launched what could be described as an eBay for zero-day security vulnerabilities, an organized marketplace where security researchers or hackers can get paid for handing over their discoveries. The idea is that this site would present an alternative to existing black markets, whereby hackers trade in information that can be used for malicious purposes. There's no doubt that the world of independent security researchers needs some help. Even those individuals that have legitimate aims can get into legal trouble, if it's felt that they overstepped some bounds in doing their research. Unfortunately, this bug marketplace isn't likely to improve the situation. Researchers will still be taking a risk anytime they do research, while those whose aims are less noble will still opt to monetize their research through shadier channels, particularly if the black market is deemed as more lucrative.
Hide this

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.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Jul 2007 @ 7:34am

    Hrmm my botnet spread like wildfire with fake ebay auctions embeding files into it with there HTML editor to download my files will most likely come to an end.....*shrug.. oh well.. it was fun... never did anything malicious with it just wanted to see how many ip's I could gain control of if I wanted. In one weekend alone it hit over 900. Just think if I deploy one at christmass time with what ever the hot item of the year is. Scary. And no I never got caught because I also found away around there credit card validation and set up fake accounts over proxy servers and could even set up a paypal account as well.
    err wait I should sell that to the company...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Bob Jones, 9 Jul 2007 @ 9:04am

      Re:

      You should be arrested. Also... I doubt the validity of you story. Its very... Not possible.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    english major, 9 Jul 2007 @ 9:09am

    Not to mention you used 'there' where their should be twice and spelled Christmas wrong.

    You lack the native intelligence to pull this kind of thing off.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      John, 9 Jul 2007 @ 9:32am

      Re:

      Yes because we all know the greatest hackers in the history of computing were English majors with impeccable grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

      I doubt his story also but more because bragging on Techdirt isn't something the owner of a botnet would do and not because he doesn't have the mastery of the English language that you posses. Since when does English grammar and intelligence have any correlation? All the people in non English speaking countries aren't intelligent?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Sham ding, 9 Jul 2007 @ 9:41am

    Re;

    English is for wussies. Im migrating to Latin.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Jul 2007 @ 9:46am

    Wait... I know who the hacker is! He's the idiot who mispelled Christmas when he registered my website as ChristmassinTexas.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    disassemble, 9 Jul 2007 @ 10:20am

    your all idiots

    I'm sorry I waisted my time clicking this news link through my Google Tech Stories.. I tihnk I actually lost hundreds of brain cells reading this blog..

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    po0head, 9 Jul 2007 @ 10:44am

    what

    I thought i was checking my email?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    charlie potatoes, 9 Jul 2007 @ 10:53am

    English?

    To paraphrase Homer Simpson...What do I need to study English for? I'm never gonna go to England.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.