March 27th, 2007
Metasploit: A hacking productivity suite
Ryan Naraine reports that Metasploit 3.0 has been released with a bunch of preloaded exploits and other payloads. With Metasploit, it's point, click and hack.
After checking out the post and the gallery, my initial reaction was "oh great, just what we need easier means to hack." Second reaction after a little research: Good guys can use Metasploit to find soft spots in valuable networks, determine patch deployment schedules and pinpoint security holes in desktop environments.
The issue for security folks (good hackers and bad ones) boils down to disclosure.
The more that's out in the open about malware, exploits and holes the better. Metasploit is just a tool for all to use. How you use it is a different matter entirely.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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