[hyperpape]

Leaving aside the ethics of vulnerability research in server-side software, you're neglecting the fact that atop runs on your own machine.

So it's not like breaking into a factory. It's like noticing that your dishwasher makes the deadbolts in your house stop working (yes...a weird analogy--there are ways software isn't like physical appliances).

Surely you have the right to explore the behavior of your own house's appliances and locks, and the manufacturer does not have the right to complain.

As for server side software, I think the argument is a simple consequentialist one. The system where vulnerability researchers find vulnerabilities and report them quietly (perhaps for a bounty, perhaps not) works better than the one where we leave it up to organized crime to find and exploit those issues. It generates more secure systems, and less harm to businesses and users.

[whatnow37373]

I'm sorry for being the ignoramus and lazy ass that I am, having not read a single sentence of the article.

You are, of course, right. Examining stuff to be brought into your own home is categorically different from meticulously analyzing and publishing the security vulnerabilities of your local power plant.

I can get behind the consequentialist argument. Sometimes we've just gotta go with what works, but I wonder if we give up too easily..