{"id":105,"date":"2008-05-30T15:43:21","date_gmt":"2008-05-30T19:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2008-05-31T09:56:16","modified_gmt":"2008-05-31T13:56:16","slug":"race-to-zero-how-about-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/30\/race-to-zero-how-about-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Race to Zero? How About Bad Idea…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been busy and haven’t been in a blogging mood over the last couple of days but I thought I’d point out a couple of great posts by David Harley<\/a> and Randy Abrams<\/a> at ESET’s Threat Center blog.<\/p>\n

They’re both about the Race to Zero contest being held during the Defcon 16 conference.<\/p>\n

What is the Race to Zero contest? The contest organizers describe it as:<\/p>\n

The event involves contestants being given a sample set of viruses and malcode to modify and upload through the contest portal. The portal passes the modified samples through a number of antivirus engines and determines if the sample is a known threat. The first team or individual to pass their sample past all antivirus engines undetected wins that round. Each round increases in complexity as the contest progresses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

David and Randy do a great job of laying why the Race to Zero is a bad idea… Anti-virus developers are receiving samples of thousands of new viruses and other malicious programs every month we don’t need contests that encourage the creation of new viruses.<\/p>\n

Anti-virus software is not 100 percent effective and is often grossly oversold… It’s a risk mitigation tool that when used in combination with Sex Hex practices can reduce your chances of having your system compromised by malware.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> Eugene Kaspersky, one of the most respected people in the anti-virus industry weighs in on the Race to Zero here<\/a>. Suffices to say he’s vehemently opposed to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been busy and haven’t been in a blogging mood over the last couple of days but I thought I’d point out a couple of great posts by David Harley and Randy Abrams at ESET’s Threat Center blog. They’re both about the Race to Zero contest being held during the Defcon 16 conference. What is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,15,14],"tags":[48],"class_list":{"0":"post-105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-culture","7":"category-security","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-viruses","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-1H","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":114,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/07\/08\/contest-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":0},"title":"Contest Time…","author":"Jeff","date":"July 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The first person to leave a comment revealing what this t-shirt says gets one free. Good luck.","rel":"","context":"In "Announcements"","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/contest_image-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1357,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/15\/wsj-the-minnesota-recount-was-unconstitutional\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":1},"title":"WSJ: The Minnesota Recount Was Unconstitutional","author":"Jeff","date":"January 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"There's an interesting Op Ed by Michael Stokes Paulsen, a professor of law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis in today's Wall Street Journal. Prof. Paulsen examines the recount procedures being used by Minnesota officials in the senate contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. His conclusion? \"Isn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Law"","block_context":{"text":"Law","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/law\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3373,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/20\/stuck-on-stupid-rhode-island-school-bans-hat-because-of-toy-soldiers\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":2},"title":"Stuck on Stupid: Rhode Island School Bans Hat Because of Toy Soldiers","author":"Jeff","date":"June 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not fan of so called \"zero tolerance\" policies for the simple reason zero tolerance usually means zero common sense. Take the case of 8 year old David Morales who was given an assignment a to make a hat for a project at the Tiogue School in Coventry, Rhode Island\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":221,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/29\/computer-crime\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":3},"title":"Computer Crime…","author":"Jeff","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here an interesting video from Mikko Hypp\u00f6nen at F-Secure that talks about one of the common misconceptions about computer crime and viruses. A lot of people think that since we haven't had a major virus outbreak like the Melissa or Sasser worms in quite awhile the situation is getting better...\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computers"","block_context":{"text":"Computers","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/computers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":614,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/04\/public-funding-limits-behind-mccains-michigan-pullout\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":4},"title":"Public Funding Limits Behind McCain’s Michigan Pullout?","author":"Jeff","date":"October 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hill is reporting that public funding limits are behind the McCain Campaign's decision to pullout of Michigan. Barack Obama\u2019s decision to forego public funding for his presidential campaign helped force John McCain to withdraw from Michigan, abandoning an important strategic objective, said a McCain adviser. The withdrawal was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4164,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/13\/rep-michele-bachmann-wins-iowa-straw-poll\/","url_meta":{"origin":105,"position":5},"title":"Rep. Michele Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll","author":"Jeff","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) won the 2011 Iowa straw poll with 28.55 percent of the vote, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) finished second with 27.65 percent and former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third 13.57 percent. From the Wall Street Journal: None of the 16,892 votes filed at Iowa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}