🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <BbFl6.313$3y6.102089@typhoon2.ba-dsg.net>, 
eruberts@jnlk.com evidently didn't cross-post to the right group to be 
seen by the active participants in this thread (or maybe he was just 
being ignored, in which case I apologize for the extensive quote), 
saying:

><snip>
>
> I have been lurking in these groups for quite awhile now, so I feel pretty confident in giving my opinion here.
>
>First, EVERYONE has to remember where they came from, no one comes 
into the security field knowing everything about security, there are 
changes continually being made everyday, some for the better some for 
worse.
>
>Second, yeah port scanning maybe considered analogous to walking down 
the street and trying doors, but that does not in my opinion make it 
illegal, if a door is found open then what you decide to do from that 
point is what makes it illegal. If I go looking for open doors, that 
is considered "suspicious behavior" but until I actually am caught 
either:
>
>A. Forcing entry (e.g. scripts, spoofing, buffer overflows, etc.)
>
>B. Caught inside (if the door happens to be unlocked because of 
improper security)
>
>There is not a court in the world that could convict me of burglary 
if they can't prove A or B.
>
>Securing your computer or network is the owner's responsibility just 
as it is the physical premise security of a building. Locks are 
firewalls, alarm systems & cameras are IDS, as well as reviewing 
camera or alarm system logs are just as checking your computer logs 
for suspicious activity.
>
>Reporting suspicious people around your building to the police is 
just like reporting script kiddies for their port scanning activities 
to their ISP.  Now its up to the "police" to take action, by notifying 
them of their activities or moving them along.
>
>I feel that even though everyone is entitled to their opinion, we 
should all realize that this is not a perfect world we live in, nor is 
any software written 100% perfect or secure when released.
>
>Earl
>
>


Agreed.  I'm also trying to come up with a better analogy than the 
residential home door-jiggling one.

We're talking about walking through a district that's zoned for mixed 
commercial and residential use.  The street fronts (www sites) all 
look different, and some of the buildings don't have street front 
signs announcing their presence, but the building code requires every 
building to have the same number of doors, whether or not they are 
used, and the doors must be numbered.  Door #137 is conventionally 
used for a small room containing a building directory.  Door #139 
opens to a room containing an elevator.  Door #21 is used for 
providing a service to exchange inventoried goods.  By convention, 
every functioning door has a knob that turns, and every occupied 
building has functioning knobs.  The only thing behind door #0 is a 
clock that says where you are and what time you opened the door.  Some 
businesses and residences put the various doors on the main street, 
others put them on the side or rear of the building.  Those doors that 
do not face the main street are labeled with nothing but the address 
and the door number.

Now, you have someone walking down the alley, going to every building 
and jiggling door #139 to see whether or not it's open.  If the knob 
doesn't turn at all, that's supposed to mean the building is 
unoccupied, but some occupants disable knob turning of their unused 
doors as a security measure.  If the knob turns, but the door doesn't 
open, then the door is locked - either no elevator service is provided 
in that building, or you need a key to get to it.  If the door opens, 
maybe the person goes in and uses the elevator, or maybe he just makes 
a note to come back later.

Is this suspicious behavior?
Should it be illegal?

What if the person is a member of the neighborhood security watch?
What if he/she is soliciting for a religious group or selling magazine 
subscriptions for school?
What if he/she just moved to the neighborhood and is trying to figure 
out what the heck all these doors are?
Does it matter which door numbers he/she is trying?

What if he/she is shopping, and can't remember the address of the 
store?  He/she knows the store doesn't have a storefront on the main 
street, but does know which block the store is on?  

Or, he/she knows there are a lot of stores in the alley that sell the 
type of goods he/she is looking for, and wants to check them all out?

What if he/she just goes to only one building, but tries every single 
door on that building?


Rebeccah