Monday 3 March 2008

There is only ONE way to make a computer system secure

I really mean it. The only way to ensure a computer system, whether hardware or software or a mixture of the two - is to ask your most ardent critics are hard trying to crack your system. Anyone who is supportive of you will most likely tell you the story you want to hear. On the other hand your critics tell you the stories you do not want to hear.

This is what happened some years ago to Microsoft who claimed their websites were secure, and then they were immediately hacked. Such hacking of one of the Internet's highest profile websites does not seem to occur anymore.

Speaking from personal experience of running 24/7 high-powered and hand-built Internet servers running from USA, UK, France and more, I had various people "challenge" these systems . I found this process so useful I also ran competitions to hack the system and discover & publish key information. Although I believe my systems were never compromised I never had the advantage of a public group of ardent critics.

Enter ungrouply. This Yahoo group is proving the most ardent critic of Grouply and is trying hard to find and document any weaknesses. Right now a new user is trying different Yahoo profiles against Grouply and seeing what happens. No errors on that account seem to be noted, thus far. But you never know.

Please ungrouply go to it. You are doing stirling work. Much of what your opinion I may disagree with as off-the-wall hyperbole. On the other hand inside your group there are some important points. Please do your best to explore and document these.

The result of a Grouply that has been security tested by its biggest critic will ensure Grouply is truly a solid product & service.

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