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George Ou

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October 3rd, 2006

Embarrassing Firefox pranksters

Posted by George Ou @ 3:30 pm

Categories: Security

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Two of the presenters at the ToorCon 8 event embarrassed themselves by pulling a prank on the media and Mozilla. The two claimed to have remotely compromised Mozilla Firefox when in fact they had only crashed it. They have now backpedaled and retracted their statement with this letter to Mozilla stating that it was meant to be "humorous" but no one in the security community found it to be amusing. As for the claim that they had 30 zero-day vulnerabilities, Mischa Spiegelmock blamed his co-presenter Andrew Wbeelsoi and said he had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately for Spiegelmock, the time to speak up would have been Saturday during the presentation.

Taking the cautious and responsible approach, Window Snyder (Chief of Mozilla security) was still concerned about the crash in Mozilla Firefox and is treating it as a potentially serious flaw. Snyder stated that Spiegelmock was cooperating with Mozilla.

George Ou is Technical Director of ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

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Fox didn't "accuse". She stated by default.: Fox did say the things George has said she said, and you apparently just don't have much use for the english language when it states a fact you don't care for.

You had better face facts; if Lyn... (Read the rest); Posted by: Cayble Posted on: 02/05/08 You are currently: a Guest | Log in | Terms of Use

They embarrassed more than themselves tic swayback | 10/03/06

Mozilla took this seriously and still is georgeou | 10/03/06

Good to see nucrash | 10/03/06

Mozilla and the media is acting responsibly georgeou | 10/03/06

Wrong!!! techboy_z | 10/04/06

Have you dealt anything with journalism? nucrash | 10/04/06

True, individual bloggers like George Ou (Dan Quayle) probably over did it, DonnieBoy | 10/04/06

Be thankful I am not a Moderator nucrash | 10/04/06

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. George throws up DonnieBoy | 10/04/06

I would never do that tic swayback | 10/03/06

You did see the correction right? georgeou | 10/03/06

Corrections are good tic swayback | 10/03/06

You don't correct all of your mistakes George dgtruckses | 10/03/06

Wasn't a mistake georgeou | 10/03/06

So why don't you deliver? Robert Crocker | 10/03/06

Journalism 101 dgtruckses | 10/03/06

Because the source told me off the record georgeou | 10/03/06

And we're supposed to believe that? StevoCJ | 10/04/06

You can believe what you want steve georgeou | 10/04/06

Where do you draw the line? scott.kent | 10/04/06

scott.kent: good post, there are a lot of Dan Quayle idiot bloggers out DonnieBoy | 10/04/06

I think there have been plenty of fireworks Cayble | 10/03/06

Since when? jragosta | 10/04/06

No, you didn't.... techboy_z | 10/04/06

News as you saw it? jasonp@... | 10/05/06

Thinking about it more, perhaps the lesson here is for us readers tic swayback | 10/03/06

Yet there is Wikipedia nucrash | 10/03/06

Look in the mirror georgeou | 10/03/06

Okay, will do tic swayback | 10/03/06

I see you know how to use bookmarks. georgeou | 10/03/06

ZDNet's search function, actually tic swayback | 10/03/06

Let's get a few things clear georgeou | 10/03/06

Try THIS one George Robert Crocker | 10/03/06

I don't have to do any such thing georgeou | 10/03/06

What about this mistake, George? V-Train | 10/04/06

Atheros had nothing to do with the orchestrated assault georgeou | 10/04/06

Bzzzzzzzz. Try again, George. V-Train | 10/04/06

A vocabulary lesson and specific examples tic swayback | 10/04/06

"off the record"? Robert Crocker | 10/04/06

George, get your story straight dgtruckses | 10/04/06

And Sam Leffler never worked on the Atheros OSX driver? GW Mahoney | 10/04/06

you're pretty bad George Monkey_MCSE | 10/04/06

hey Monkey, where did you learn to BS BrutalTruth | 10/04/06

i guess with brutaltruth Monkey_MCSE | 10/04/06

what about 2 exploits bkwatch | 10/03/06

Your poor interpretation georgeou | 10/04/06

No one believes.... jragosta | 10/05/06

Ok, no more hiding... jasonp@... | 10/05/06

Fool me D-T-Schmitz | 10/03/06

Rise above it Dietrich georgeou | 10/03/06

Give George some credit here tic swayback | 10/03/06

agreed D-T-Schmitz | 10/03/06

bloggers vs. journalists bkwatch | 10/03/06

Krebs has only reported what he was shown and was told georgeou | 10/03/06

Why did Maynor demo 3rd party card? dgtruckses | 10/03/06

That was off-the-record georgeou | 10/03/06

You just said Maynor supports Krebs' story dgtruckses | 10/04/06

Hey tic.. Generally I agree with you... ju1ce | 10/04/06

If you're going to publish something... tic swayback | 10/04/06

Integrity D-T-Schmitz | 10/04/06

Well, of course he will... techboy_z | 10/04/06

Easy answer... ju1ce | 10/04/06

ZDNet doesn't care jragosta | 10/04/06

Allright D-T-Schmitz | 10/03/06

Going up in arms everytime is bad news about Mozilla georgeou | 10/04/06

i like this George... Monkey_MCSE | 10/04/06

Objectivity D-T-Schmitz | 10/04/06

Not really fair tic swayback | 10/04/06

To Dietrich georgeou | 10/04/06

To George D-T-Schmitz | 10/04/06

Thank you Dietrich georgeou | 10/04/06

No, because you are not supposed to take a blog like news Cayble | 10/03/06

Editorial columns require trust and accuracy as well tic swayback | 10/04/06

ALL the editorials, news stories, and chief of Mozilla security georgeou | 10/04/06

And they should all be faulted for their reporting tic swayback | 10/04/06

You can't be serious georgeou | 10/04/06

Hey, George.... jragosta | 10/05/06

What part of Mozilla taking this seriously do you not understand? georgeou | 10/05/06

Maybe I just have higher standards than you tic swayback | 10/05/06

The media did thier job here. The just reported the news. The news was DonnieBoy | 10/04/06

Not only did we say they were credible, but low lifes georgeou | 10/04/06

agree rwahrens1952 | 10/04/06

That's a dirty and ignorant accusation georgeou | 10/04/06

Accusations jragosta | 10/04/06

It's obvious what you want to believe georgeou | 10/04/06

Grade School Reading Lesson 103 DavidBurke | 10/04/06

Thank you rwahrens1952 | 10/04/06

Nice try George jragosta | 10/04/06

No one should be proud here tic swayback | 10/05/06

Taken? So Mozilla was taken too? georgeou | 10/05/06

Try to do better next time tic swayback | 10/05/06

I know you get paid to do this, George, JetJaguar | 10/05/06

Intention is irrelevant tic swayback | 10/05/06

Bravo Mozilla... timyu | 10/03/06

Interesting point dgtruckses | 10/03/06

Bravo Apple... GW Mahoney | 10/03/06

Exactly jragosta | 10/04/06

Big difference you're too blind to see georgeou | 10/04/06

Calling Apple and Lynn Fox liars again? tic swayback | 10/04/06

Are you losing it? georgeou | 10/04/06

Did you reply to the correct post? tic swayback | 10/04/06

Yes, wrong thread georgeou | 10/04/06

Irrelevant jragosta | 10/04/06

Yes, I'm seriously questioning it georgeou | 10/04/06

It's hard to judge tic swayback | 10/04/06

To live and die in PR JetJaguar | 10/04/06

I'm rolling on the ground laughing georgeou | 10/04/06

Incredible? jragosta | 10/04/06

Are you changing your argument here? GW Mahoney | 10/04/06

Yes, but you don't give non-Apple crash dumps unless you are a retard georgeou | 10/05/06

Have a nice roll tic swayback | 10/05/06

Okay, fine gskiii | 10/05/06

To Gskii georgeou | 10/05/06

Why? jragosta | 10/05/06

Given that there are no facts... jragosta | 10/05/06

the problem is Maynor bkwatch | 10/05/06

Clarification: Fox said nothing of the sort timyu | 10/04/06

You're simply denying what's on the record georgeou | 10/04/06

Record demonstrates public speculation re: meaning of Fox's words (NT) timyu | 10/04/06

So full of it. Cayble | 02/05/08

not even close... doh123 | 10/04/06

wrong rwahrens1952 | 10/04/06

Nope, she even pointed to the FreeBSD CVE georgeou | 10/04/06

speaking of learning to read.... richvball44 | 10/05/06

Thank you for confirming your logic comprehension level Rich georgeou | 10/05/06

And, Mozilla is still diligently working on the problem in case there is DonnieBoy | 10/04/06

Big difference here georgeou | 10/04/06

Clarification: Fox said nothing of the sort timyu | 10/04/06

Yes she did, it's in public record georgeou | 10/04/06

here is where you are wrong... doh123 | 10/04/06

Doesn't change the facts one bit georgeou | 10/04/06

Grade Scool Reading Lesson 102 DavidBurke | 10/04/06

Grade School Reading lesson 101 DavidBurke | 10/04/06

Primers? timyu | 10/06/06

Fox didn't "accuse". She stated by default. Cayble | 02/05/08

analogy richvball44 | 10/05/06

Better analogy georgeou | 10/05/06

Huh? jragosta | 10/05/06

Your reading comprehension is beyond hope georgeou | 10/05/06

Are you really this stupid, George? jragosta | 10/05/06

You've just been shot down and name calling doesn't help georgeou | 10/05/06

Show us, George jragosta | 10/06/06

Good post, if by "better" you meant "worse" timyu | 10/05/06

How did people fall for this... GW Mahoney | 10/03/06

Stupid opensourcepro | 10/04/06

Error Not Corrected 1macgeek | 10/04/06

Maynor: "Krebs did nothing wrong" dgtruckses | 10/04/06

So George contradicts himself V-Train | 10/04/06

Story seems staraight, you just do not want to see it that way. DavidBurke | 10/04/06

Learn to read better V-Train | 10/04/06

failure of basic logic on your part georgeou | 10/04/06

Sure George V-Train | 10/04/06

Responsible disclosure, followed by purposeful leak dgtruckses | 10/05/06

Definition of responsible disclosure georgeou | 10/05/06

Maynor a victim? Hardly. dgtruckses | 10/05/06

George, why did Maynor demo to Krebs? dgtruckses | 10/05/06

I just told you georgeou | 10/05/06

Real definition of responsible disclosure, which M & E DID NOT follow V-Train | 10/06/06

You're a hypocrite, George jragosta | 10/06/06

Maynor works for secureworks, right? dgtruckses | 10/06/06

George, you're a Maynor lackey dgtruckses | 10/06/06

Burkian logic on "Krebs did nothing wrong" dgtruckses | 10/05/06

ask Krebs tomorrow bkwatch | 10/05/06

I have to wonder Shelendrea | 10/04/06

Well, George did bring it up tic swayback | 10/04/06

Unsubstantiated Reports D-T-Schmitz | 10/04/06

Once jragosta | 10/04/06

Wow David, you are pathetically stubborn V-Train | 10/09/06

I agree, he did change his story.. Monkey_MCSE | 10/04/06

Kill them all, let God sort them out tic swayback | 10/04/06

They are far more likely to be liable for monetary damages. DavidBurke | 10/04/06

How about being evenhanded? jragosta | 10/05/06

Correct, except for a couple of things DavidBurke | 10/05/06

You're pretending to be a laegal professional? jragosta | 10/06/06

You need to learn how to spell! ( laegal )?? DavidBurke | 12/30/06

because George... doh123 | 10/04/06

protecting sources vs. protecting your readers bkwatch | 10/05/06

This is the source of George's dilemma - gskiii | 10/05/06

Burke jragosta | 10/06/06

That's my approach - gskiii | 10/06/06

If you write it often enough I'm betting you will believe it. DavidBurke | 10/06/06

I had to double check gskiii | 10/06/06

hahaha richvball44 | 10/07/06

Sorry, you lose jragosta | 10/07/06

I find your methods quite irrational DavidBurke | 10/07/06

LOL! You think Sophos is an unbiased source?! V-Train | 10/08/06

Misinformation alert! GW Mahoney | 10/08/06

David manages to find a clueless journalist. jragosta | 10/08/06

you're confusing trojans and worms JetJaguar | 10/08/06

According to your own definition, JetJaguar, it is not a worm V-Train | 10/08/06

Nice job, JetJaguar jragosta | 10/08/06

Let's see you defend your own errors JetJaguar | 10/08/06

Let's see you defend your own errors (with italics corrected) JetJaguar | 10/08/06

Sorry, you lose jragosta DavidBurke | 10/08/06

David, what a pathetic attempt to weasel out of your words V-Train | 10/08/06

Show me the claim mvora DavidBurke | 10/08/06

You stated: "there have been at least a couple (viruses) I am aware of" V-Train | 10/08/06

Why it's imposissible to have a discussion with David jragosta | 10/09/06

Still think worms aren't viruses? JetJaguar | 10/09/06

You just keep losing over and over again jragosta DavidBurke | 10/09/06

Clueless David jragosta | 10/09/06

Virus vs Worm jragosta | 10/09/06

Congrats jragosta, you've CLEARLY checkmated Mr. Burke... thelemite | 10/09/06

btw Davie, please explain to everyone.... thelemite | 10/09/06

Ha! jragosta, why do you insist on talking nonsense? DavidBurke | 10/09/06

Wow David, you are pathetically stubborn V-Train | 10/09/06

And you mvora are nauseatingly obtuse DavidBurke | 10/09/06

You wouldn't know the truth if it bit you in the... V-Train | 10/09/06

You wouldn?t admit the truth mvora even if it would save your shattered rep DavidBurke | 10/09/06

Can't be settled here... GW Mahoney | 10/10/06

Sophos doesn't agree with you jragosta | 10/10/06

Don't waste your time, jragosta V-Train | 10/10/06

Time to end this sillyness anyway. DavidBurke | 10/10/06

Ha, an attempt to claim the high ground? timyu | 10/10/06

Yes, we know, David jragosta | 10/10/06

Give it a rest, trust me, its over.... DavidBurke | 10/11/06

Another biased article jragosta | 10/11/06

A worm is a virus JetJaguar | 10/13/06

Timeline bkwatch | 10/06/06

Timeline is odd, agreed dgtruckses | 10/08/06

Explanation jragosta | 10/09/06

a very logical explanation bkwatch | 10/09/06

Evidence? jragosta | 10/09/06

no evidence -- speculation bkwatch | 10/09/06

I don't think Maynor knew jragosta | 10/09/06

this is interesting.... bkwatch | 10/09/06

Secureworks keeping it alive? dgtruckses | 10/10/06

SecureWorks keeping it alive? jragosta | 10/11/06

They are keeping it alive --in a strange fashion bkwatch | 10/12/06

Paid trolls doctordawg | 10/04/06

They were lying IDIOTS who cried "wolf" and who should be SPANKED!!! rh0 | 10/04/06

Parallel story tic swayback | 10/06/06

You wouldn't need a 'parallel' story JetJaguar | 10/06/06

Was it stained any more than the players? tic swayback | 10/06/06

Fill in the blanks, please. timyu | 10/07/06

What do you think?

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Real World IT

George Ou

October 3rd, 2006

Embarrassing Firefox pranksters

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Real World IT

George Ou

October 3rd, 2006

Embarrassing Firefox pranksters

Related Discussions on TechRepublic

Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?

What do you think?

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

Recent Entries

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