Malicious Compliance

19562 readers

2 users here now

People conforming to the letter, but not the spirit, of a request. For now, this includes text posts, images, videos and links. Please ensure that the “malicious compliance” aspect is apparent - if you’re making a text post, be sure to explain this part; if it’s an image/video/link, use the “Body” field to elaborate.

======

We ENCOURAGE posts about events that happened to you, or someone you know.
We ACCEPT (for now) reposts of good malicious compliance stories (from other platforms) which did not happen to you or someone you knew. Please use a [REPOST] tag in such situations.
We DO NOT ALLOW fiction, or posts that break site-wide rules.

======

Also check out the following communities:

!fakehistoryporn@lemmy.world !unethicallifeprotips@lemmy.world

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

Here's all the source code (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 1 year ago by ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org to c/maliciouscompliance@lemmy.world

25 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In 2000, I wrote a Linux device driver that "decrypted" the output of a certain device, and my company, which hosted open-source projects, agreed to host it.

The "encryption" was only a XOR, but that was enough for the maker of said device to sue my company under 17 U.S.C. § 1201 for hundreds of millions in damages.

The story got a lot of press back then because it highlighted how stupid the then-new DMCA was, and also because there was a David open-source enthusiasts vs. Goliath heartless corporation flavor to it.

Our lawyer decided to pick up the fight to generate free publicity for our fledgling company. For discovery, the maker of the device requested "a copy of any and all potentially infringing source code". They weren't specific and they didn't specify the medium.

So we printed the entire Linux kernel source code including my driver in 5-pt font and sent them the boxes of printouts. Legally they had been served, so there was nothing they could do about it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] a1studmuffin@aussie.zone 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'd love to hear more about this - do you do it professionally (for preventative reasons), as a side hobby, or as an attacker for malicious/selfish reasons? No judgement, genuinely curious as it takes a certain personality type to do this kind of work and I find it really interesting.

[–] Ret2libsanity@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Professionally

My title is senior vulnerability researcher. Focus on mobile devices. That’s all I can really say without doxing too much

But the Linux kernel is always a juicy target because of the coverage and exploit there gets you.

[–] crbn@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Neat. Why is Linux kernel relevant for many mobile users? Is iPhone built off of it the same way Mac OS is?

What do you mean by coverage and exploit?

[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

MacOS and iOS have Darwin as their base, which is really a mutt. Apple started with the NeXTSTEP kernel, which was a mix of 4.3BSD and Mach, then folded in some FreeBSD, other open source components, and some in-house code.

It's Android that uses the Linux kernel as its base, and the millions of phones makes it a juicy target.

[–] crbn@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not too surprising that iOS has linux in its DNA, but never realized Android does too. Always assumed it was more windows-based. Good to know.

[–] kbotc@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

iOS doesn’t have any Linux.

FreeBSD is not Linux. Linux is a kernel and Apple uses Mach, a different kernel. They do both share that they’re POSIX, but OS X is actual, factual, UNIX, and Linux has never paid the money to qualify.

[–] ngdev@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I think they just stare at it, hoping the vulnerabilities come to them in a moment of revelation. A Linux Joseph Smith, the kernel playing the part of the Golden Plates.