Packet Storm Security is back

Luke writes "As you may have herd, Packet Storm Security a web site providing free-ware security programs and information, was taken down a couple of months ago because of a complaint by the maintainer of AntiOnline. It was a very important source of security information to many people and companies. Now it is in the process of being put back on line by a security firm by the name of Securify. For more information visit Genocide2600. " The corporate security company that will be putting the info back on is Kroll-O'Gara, a name that I'm sure is familar to some of you. Suffice it to say, they provide "special security" for corporations, but are promising to run Packet Storm in much the same way, this time with a staff.

Re:How?

[MadCat]

Short recap for those who don't want to read the article; packetstorm posted some nice articles regarding JP's lack of ethics and JP making up most of his stories. JP wasn't pleased and threatened legal action.

Check here [attrition.org] for some more info.

Re:gah... response from the 'competetion'

[Mark Pitman]

Well, it is safe to read, because it is just a reprint of a letter Ken Wiliams wrote.

Re:Hrmmm...request for knowledge

[Svartalf]

Apparently, JP quit that little practice (I could follow the link from /.) for at least SlashDot. Wonder if he realized how pedantic that struck a lot of people and that it was making his situation worse, not better.

Re:How?

[larien]

See the Original slashdot article [slashdot.org] and the followup [slashdot.org].
--

Armored Cars!!!

[nuxx]

Did anyone else happen to notice that they also offer armored vehicles, including military vehicles? Wow. :) That just makes me happy.

Re:Hrmmm...request for knowledge

[dirty]

Ok I'm not an expert on this but here's what I understood to be the situation. JP, or "gaypee" as he seemed to be refered to often (NOTE: i think this nick name is distastefull, it just shows what people thought of him), is the head of anti-online, a supposed security consulting site, or something along those lines. He claimed that packetstorm had several things about his wife and family, including personal information, and other offensive material, such as a nun covered in semen. Whether this material was there or not I really do not know. There were several pages that were very critical of him, with racist and other quotes of the sort. From what I understand to the security community JP is regarded as a fraud who really knows nothing about security, dimes on fellow (cr,h)ackers, and basically abuses the (cr,h)acking scene in anyway he can. Supposedly he also deals with any critisism very poorly. Some people have speculated that JP tried (and for a while succeeded) to shutdown PacketStorm because he saw the site as competition, and the worst kind at that, free competition (sound like a certain evil empire we all know and love?). From what I could gather from the situation before, JP is an all around dick. Anti-Online's site is here http://www.antionline.com/ [antionline.com] but you won't be able to just click the link, they have blocked referals from slashdot, because apparently slashdot is a cracker site. Atleast this was true when the last story was posted, I don't know if it still is. Go figure.

Re:Armored Cars!!!

[tlhIngan]

Offtopic: The armored vehicles I've seen here tend to have gas tanks on the outside (in full view)...

How?

[hasse]

How could Antionline force Packet Storm to shut down? Threatning with legal actions? And why?

Re:It will not be the same Packet Storm

[cebe]

I had to go all the way to the bottom to find one i agreed with :)

not to mention the forum... which got particularily interesting at times (we lub j00 Dr.H) ... I cant see that having the same "taste" being run by a corporation.

well I'm just glad Ken.. umm... won :)
YIPPEE.. im off to packetstorm..

-cb

url

[dsaljurator]

Packetstorm's new Home [securify.com]. Just a splash page so far but i'm sure some of you, like me, will want to bookmark this. Courtesy of HackerNews.com

Securify??

[greenfly]

So "secure" isn't enough of a verb?
I'll let them secure my server I suppose, just not "proofreadify" my term papers.

Re:It will not be the same Packet Storm

[shrdlu]

Of course it won't be the same PacketStorm, and we have the little twit at Antionline to thank for it. The only reason that Harvard didn't wipe all of Ken's info (and that includes his schoolwork) is because of the thousands of emails from security professionals protesting the jump to conclusions, and the terrible loss of all Ken's work.

Ken's site has been a major one for me for a very long time, and I considered it to be a tragic loss. The lies that were told by Vranesivich to Harvard should not have been believed without verification, but there you have it. They were frightened into jumping, and then (I suspect) felt that they couldn't back down.

On the other hand, I've always known Ken to be an honest person. If he says that Securify is going to keep it the same, then I have to believe that they'll try. Don't forget who actually founded Securify. They are not exactly a bunch of conservatives, nor are they cowards.

Sameer Parekh (the S in RSA), Jon Callas (OpenPGP), and the man in charge of the original Securify, Taher Elgamal (I really don't have to explain that, do I?). Sameer was one of the featured speakers at Defcon 7 this past July.

I have hopes, and I hope that Ken does really well whereever he is. He certainly deserves a little success (and it must really annoy JP).

-me-

Re:It will not be the same Packet Storm

[shrdlu]

>Uh, FYI, Sameer is not the "S" in RSA. He was,
>however, the founder of C2Net software,

You know, I knew that. Oops. Still, he's certainly one to be trusted (and not to run from a little controversy).

>I'm horribly biased, since I work at Securify...

Ok, you've got to guess what I'm going to ask next. Confidence Remains High? Keep or toss? How about the most fabulous collection of computer/unix humor ever? Keep or toss? I'm sure that there's other stuff I'll miss, I just don't remember what it is right now. C'mon, fess up. You must have some ideas.

-me-

But ... where's it *from*?

[amyzing]

Hmmm.

When I followed the story, the various people writing about it said that the entire site at Harvard had been destroyed--including the backups. So, if the new site is anything more than a name ... how was it recovered?

Re:Hrmmm...request for knowledge

[British]

I remember when AntiOnline was a simple slashdot-like site for computer security related news. It was simple, and to the point,and interesting reading. Now with this 'revitalized' site, all i see is fancy artwork, an excess of ad banners, fluff, and plenty of 404 errors. Not worth my time to read it.

Full story?

[Microslack Hack]

Possibly /slanted/ but worth the read.

http://www.attrition.org/negation [attrition.org]

M.H.
Microsoft Zen - Become one with the blue screen.

Re:It will not be the same Packet Storm

[SecGuy]

Uh, FYI, Sameer is not the "S" in RSA. He was, however, the founder of C2Net software, well-known for the Stronghold web server, and also for organizing outdoor dance parties. (See: http://www.bpm.ai/~sameer) He once appeared on the cover of Forbes above the caption "This Guy Wants to Overthrow the Government." You're probably thinking of "Shamir."

Now, Securify's president, Taher El Gamal, _was_ the inventor of an alternative to RSA, called, well, El Gamal.

I'm horribly biased, since I work at Securify, but I know that in addition to these well-known folks who are here, the guys actually working on the site do not lack knowledge, courage or attitude. In the long run, though, we'll just have to see what happens.