So as it’s my first shift as handler of the day I was worried if I would be able to live up to the bar the handlers have set in diaries and days past. This started a train of thought that was accelerated by Robert “RSnake” Hansen’s 1000th and final post on http://ha.ckers.org today. I am sure that everyone reading this is aware of whom Robert is but in case you have been under a rock for the last many years or just not involved in web application security. Robert is one of the giants upon whose shoulders we all stand. Robert has helped cause XSS, SQLi and XSRF to become terms that the business people we deal with understand. He has also fostered an environment where people share tips and tricks and encourage each other to become better.
In his last blog post on the site, Robert discusses how he needs to follow his happiness and that this is the main reason he is stepping out of the limelight. (Yes this blog post does continue the light shining on him a bit but I think its ok this once.) He brings up a point that is one that I have discussed with many people. What happens when this isn’t fun anymore? While I am sure that rooting boxes and yanking data through a web application will cause me to giggle for years into the future, how do we ensure that the people we have manage and monitor our security are still enjoying what they do?
Its also funny that this comes up at the same time that the mainstream news outlets are discussing the use of the history browsing attacks using JavaScript and CSS. This is an attack we have discussed for a long while now, but since its been found in the wild being used by advertising and adult sites, maybe we will see some more movement on fixing it.
Thoughts?
Kevin Johnson
