Re: SERVICE_CLASS parameter is SID_DISC in listener.ora

> Well, your arguments are of course valid, RE is not a science,
> but a scientific tool. This being agreed upon, does Honda
> prohibit disassembling their engines? Don't think so. Copy
> them - yes, that's prohibited, but simply taking them apart to
> see how they work and possibly repair them if they don't work
> as they should or look for potential problems?

I don't think that they prohibit disassembling their engines, but they would have a problem if you used their proprietary *and patented* techniques in your products you are selling.

> Further, if knowledge is gained through research, then how
> software security research differs from any other scientific
> research? And reverse-engineering is an intergal part of
> this research. After all, we are not interested in theoretic
> flaws possible in software. We are interested in specific
> bugs in widely used software which pose real-world problems
> and endangers its users. Applied science, but still science.

I do not disagree with RE being an integral part of research. What I disagreed with was the premise (maybe misinterpreted by me) that RE *is* science.

> That RE applies to one specific product I disagree, too. That it
> can be applied to one specific product doesn't limit its application
> to that specific product only. You can RE any other software
> product using the same systematic approach and tools.
> You can even use certain patterns to detect problematic
> code without reverse-engineering the whole product. Actually,
> definition of such patterns and creation of the tools that
> apply them to detect flaws in software is an academic
> research topic.

It might be splitting hairs, but RE is applied to a specific product. When you RE another product, the RE is totally new for that product. Two RE efforts on two products rarely are the same RE effort.

Cheers,
Brian

-- 
===================================================================

Brian Peasland
oracle_dba_at_nospam.peasland.net
http://www.peasland.net

Remove the "nospam." from the email address to email me.


"I can give it to you cheap, quick, and good.
Now pick two out of the three" - Unknown