News You Could Do Without

News You Could Do Without

by Mike Masnick





Hacker Who Cisco Made Famous Lands Job At Chief Rival

from the whoooooooops dept

Remember over the summer when Cisco freaked out over a security researcher who revealed a pretty major vulnerability in the software that runs a lot of Cisco equipment? We already discussed how the move backfired badly by only calling much more attention to the vulnerability -- but also to the researcher, Michael Lynn himself. He lost his job at a security firm over the flap, but it appears the notoriety probably helped him find another one without too much trouble. He's now working at Juniper, a major Cisco rival. Does Cisco get the referral bonus for recommending him? Update: Oh and, by the way, it was only this week that Cisco finally patched the real problem Lynn was discussing. Update: Updated to make clear that Lynn worked at a security firm, since some felt I implied he worked at Cisco.

23 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. get it right

    by 1whoknows - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 4:06pm

    the dude worked for iss, not cisco, and iss fired him.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re: get it right

    by RBasil - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 4:08pm

    www.techdirt.com "Where they get half the story correct on a good day."

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: get it right

    by harish - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 4:45pm

    first of all who mentioned that he was working for cisco?, get yout typeface right.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. Re: get it right

    by icon Mike (profile) - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 4:49pm

    I never said he worked for Cisco... but he did lose his job (with ISS) over the flap, and it was his fame that helped him get another job.

    Where did I say he worked for Cisco?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Re: get it right

    by The Captian - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 4:59pm

    technically you didnt, but also technically you used really crappy diction. It looks like you inferred he worked for Cisco. Have someone proof read before you post.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Re: get it right

    by icon Mike (profile) - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 5:04pm

    Hmm. Okay. I've updated the post to reflect that, but I still think it was pretty clear from the beginning. We never said he worked at Cisco. We've written about his story enough that we clearly knew he didn't work at Cisco. So, still not sure why people are accusing us of saying he did work there.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Re: get it right

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 5:45pm

    "Have someone proof read before you post," says "The Captian".

    God bless the Internet.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Re: get it right

    by Dan - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 5:46pm

    So somebody skimmed the article, misinterpreted it and in their haste to post first and feel smart didn't check the facts. Sure the first line could have been a bit clearer (I had to reread it myself) but now any good commentary about the article relating to the fact that Cisco should be red-faced about now is drowned out by something trivial (I have now added myself to that list of detractors).
    Kudos to Mike for trying to appease the 'masses' without backing down or being an ass about it.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. GETTING IT RIGHT

    by arcfixer - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 6:01pm

    Read the article. It says Cisco was upset with a security researcher, and goes on to say the researcher lost his job at a security firm.
    .
    The Captian (did you mean Captain?)-While you may have erroneously inferred the researcher worked for Cisco, Mike never implied same.-Have your proofreader explain the proper usage of infer and imply.;)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Re: GETTING IT RIGHT

    by icon Mike (profile) - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 6:31pm

    Before anyone beats up too much on The Captian... I added the part about the "security firm" after the complaints in the comments. But the rest of the post is identical.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. Re: GETTING IT RIGHT

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 6:51pm

    go fuck urself, all of u. techdirt wishes it was slashdot, but wishing it doesnt make it so...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Re: get it right

    by drew - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 6:59pm

    you alone are responsible for your assumptions...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. Re: GETTING IT RIGHT

    by Anonymous - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 7:06pm

    "Read the article. It says Cisco was upset with a security researcher, and goes on to say the researcher lost his job at a security firm."
    Actually, they say a securty researcher.. not necessarily their security researcher. Maybe you all should take a minute or two to comprehend the article, and get your facts straight.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  14. Re: GETTING IT RIGHT

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 7:24pm

    I love the internet. One of the only places where someone could mis-read something, then say that it was crappy diction (clearly isn't), or that it was inferred (clearly wasn't). You misread, get over it. Your pride and head can probably stand to be deflated somewhat. Get over it ;)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  15. Re: get it right

    by Trismegistus - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 9:28pm

    You are accusing a person of "crappy diction", and you misuse the word "inferred". Well I guess that constitutes "crappy" grammar" Look the work up in a dictionary, and try the word "implied" next time. Nothing worse than correcting someone, and coming off as a buffoon.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  16. Re: get it right

    by OldMessage - Nov 4th, 2005 @ 10:14pm

    Hehehehe, sorry guys but you are out of your fucking mind. Instead of saying something like "Cool information", you are hageling on wording if or if not the sentences could lead to an impression that the guy was working for CISCO. Who give's a flying pigs fart about it. He is not working for them (his old company, smile) anymore and if CISCO missed out on the opportunity to hire him, bad for them, but they will survice.
    Joe in Germany.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  17. Fired?

    by fs - Nov 5th, 2005 @ 12:25am

    The rumor mill had it that Mike Lynn quit ISS before giving the presentation at Black Hat, not that he was fired.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  18. Re: get it right

    by Huh? - Nov 5th, 2005 @ 10:48am

    Uhm, It's spelled Captain... You should have someone proof your work, idiot...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  19. Re: get it right

    by Wade - Nov 5th, 2005 @ 2:40pm

    You guys bicker a lot...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  20. Cnet reads Slashdot

    by Eliot Phillips - Nov 5th, 2005 @ 11:55pm

    I guess you just have to make a phone call to confirm an AC and you've got a story. See this comment

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  21. Re: Cnet reads Slashdot

    by Critic - Nov 6th, 2005 @ 1:41pm

    You guys are all geeky idiots!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  22. Story accuracy

    by Mitchell Earl - Nov 6th, 2005 @ 4:00pm

    I don't know what all the complaints are about. The article did NOT "infer" that he worked for CISCO and was easy to understand the way it was worded.

    I think some computer geeks need to brush up on their Reading and Comprehension.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  23. Classic

    by Anonymous Coward - Nov 6th, 2005 @ 9:19pm

    One of the best threads I've seen on techdirt in a long time. Good laugh guys.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
Search Techdirt
And now, a word from our Sponsors..
Subscribe to Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It