[jacquesm]

Tools like these will end up in the hands of those that are trying to harden an installation and in the hands of those that will end up using them to try to break into such installations.

I've often wondered whether the net effect of the whole security research community is a net positive or a net negative and I honestly do not know the answer. So yes, it is a loaded question. But asking yourself if what you can do is actually the right thing to do is always good, especially if you - as these authors imply - know up front that there is a large chance of abuse.

[stavros]

I used to work on secure communications software, and I've often wondered if many more criminals than oppressed people were using it.

In the end, I decided that one oppressed person using it to improve their situation is morally "worth" many criminals using it. It's kind of like "better ten guilty men go free than put one innocent man behind bars".

[jacquesm]

That depends on what the guilty men are doing...

Because the one innocent is usually a defender, whereas the guilty men are usually the attackers and to give the attackers an effective advantage in an arms race is a risky thing with unknown and potentially devastating outcomes.

In my own life (the live video example listed elsewhere) it would have meant that we probably would have had everything that we have today anyway, only maybe a little bit (not even that much, I'm aware of one other individual who was working on a similar concept who contacted me after our release) later.

Video conferencing, live streams in the browser without plug ins and so on all would have happened, for sure. But at least the massive mountain of abuse cases would not rest partially on my shoulders. And because I've been confronted with the direct evidence of the results of my creation for me that link is easy to make. But if you work on secure communications software you are probably not aware of the consequences.

[lovemenot]

Thank you for a considered response. I share those feelings.

I just hope the person offering AMA will not be daunted by a good but blunt question from a voice that carries weight around here.

[jacquesm]

I've been in that position, which is one of the reasons why I'm asking. When I came up with 'live streaming video on the www' I never for one second sat down to think about the abuse potential. Color me hopelessly naive. And when confronted with the various abuses over the years I've always had a problem with that, this was the direct consequence of me just 'scratching my itch' and it caused a huge amount of misery. Oh, say the defenders, but if you had not done it then somebody else would have. This is true, but then that moral weight would be on their shoulders and not on mine.

Hence my question. Because I do feel that weight and it has caused me to carefully consider the abuse potential of the stuff that I've released since then and I've only released those things that I feel have none that I can (easily) discern.

[ryandrake]

One thing I learned early in my career, and numerous times during it: For every ethical stand you take against writing a bit of software you consider questionable, there's a line of other software engineers out the door willing to do it. I remember when as a junior engineer, I worked up the courage to tell my boss I had a moral problem with writing some code that would help the product cheat at a benchmark. He totally understood, and I didn't get fired or anything--just moved on to a different project. Bob, two cubicles down, was more than happy to write the benchmark-cheating code.

Software engineers and other technology creators don't take a "Do No Harm" oath like doctors. Many of them have never even taken a single Ethics In Technology course at university (it was an optional class when I was in undergrad decades ago). And, even in the alternate universe where ethics was baked into engineering training, all it takes is a single rogue willing to ignore them, and now the world has to deal with it.

[lovemenot]

May I ask, what proportion of the stuff you did not release on moral grounds were subsequently re-invented in short order?

[jacquesm]

everything!

Which is one of the reasons I'm so completely against software patents and a large number of patents in general. Quite a few of them are simply things that the time is right for.

Here is one of my idea dump lists, you can check for yourself which ones are not yet done (which is probably a really small number by now) and which ones have turned out to be homeruns (and in some cases billion dollar+ companies).

https://jacquesmattheij.com/my-list-of-ideas-for-when-you-ar...

One that wasn't on there eventually led to https://pianojacq.com/, which I'm happy to report to date has not led to any kind of abuse. And no, it did not put any piano teachers out of business either.