The secrets that cannot be public!

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Has security through obscurity ever worked, for anything?

No.
10
53%
Not that I have seen.
5
26%
I am not qualified to take this poll.
4
21%
 
Total votes: 19

rootkit
MagicJack Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 9:15 pm

The secrets that cannot be public!

Post by rootkit »

All over this board the belief is perpetuated that certain information regarding MJ must remain a secret. "If MJ finds out, they will fix the holes!"

This anti-security through obscurity is big waste of time.

If you choose to keep the information private, someone else will choose to make the information public.

Ever heard of satellite television? Dish network, Directv?

They use an access card system to determine which channels subscribers are allowed to receive. Naturally someone figured out how to read and write to the access cards, granting them the ability to determine what channels they get to see. A war began between providers and the "pirates". The providers introduced new ECM's, or electronic counter measures, which broke the functionality of the code used to receive channels. The "pirates" figured out new methods to get their channels again.

The events were inevitable. They have been in this loop for well over a decade and with very little sign of the "war" ever ending.

An MJ related example of this:
It appears that some MJ owners have decided to retrieve there MJ login information so they can use the service without the software and ads. This potentially costs MJ money as they sell advertising space on the software which these users no longer run. Through MJ updates the method used to gain user information has been altered to prevent such access. MJ users find a new way to accomplish there goals...

The events were inevitable.

Sure, things can be delayed by hiding information. IMHO its a waste of resources. There are just some people we all have to deal with who feel information of any type should be freely available.

I do not wish to get into any sort of battle about full-disclosure vs security through obscurity, or MJ is completly different than TV or x or x, or a battle about anything. I just hope users here who make it a point to copy paste lines about the importance of keeping information a secret truly understand the big picture. I certainly hope no posts with valuable information get deleted. (You could easily find yourself over taken by a new information source, with free speech)

Dear MJ, would you like to prevent a costly never-ending battle where you cannot win? Follow through on your word. Provide a BYOD option. If you claim you will provide unlimited calls, do so. It's very simple:)

Dear Satellite TV providers, would you like to prevent a costly never-ending battle where you cannot win? Stop over charging your customers. Oh, thats a vital part of your business model? Well...then provide better programming I guess, other wise get your signal off my lawn.

Cheers to all
root
MagicJack User
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: Aspen, Colorado
Contact:

Post by root »

Please don't drive tonight.
There are 10 different kinds of people in the world. There are those who understand binary, and those who don't.

MagicJack on TRS80 Model 1 16K Extended Basic
mufon
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:50 am
Location: HIghland Village, Texas
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Post by mufon »

Whether its satellite tv or magicJack, some of us will hack because we like to, because we like the challenge and we like to know how things work.
"Looking for a new job. I have worked for Adelphia, Enron, Health South, Worldcom, and most recently British Petroleum."
Matt9876
Dan Should Pay Me
Posts: 504
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:38 pm

Post by Matt9876 »

I think for the most part 98% of the users operate the products as intended.


Staying ahead of the update cycles is real work and most won't folks won't even bother or don't have the skills.
mberlant
Dan Should Pay Me
Posts: 829
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:47 pm
Location: Japan

Post by mberlant »

Matt9876 wrote:I think for the most part 98% of the users operate the products as intended.
Yes, and that is why AOL and Vonage (and MJ?) are still in business.
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