Cisco cracks down on router flaw information

The crackdown on information about Cisco router flaws continues. Internet Security Systems, one of the companies in the center of the storm, sent a cease-and-desist letter to a security researcher who had posted slides of a presentation ISS at one point planned to present at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The presentation described how a now-patched flaw in Cisco’s IOS software can be exploited to take control of a Cisco router. The letter accused the researcher, Richard Forno, of publishing stolen proprietary information and threatened legal action if he did not remove the ISS material. Two weeks ago, ISS and Cisco forcibly removed the presentation from Black Hat conference text, but ISS researcher Michael Lynn resigned from the firm to deliver the presentation anyway. Lynn and Black Hat were subsequently sued by Cisco and ISS, and all parties then came to a legal settlement not to distribute or discuss the material. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080205-black-hat-cisco.html

The crackdown on information about Cisco router flaws continues. Internet Security Systems, one of the companies in the center of the storm, sent a cease-and-desist letter to a security researcher who had posted slides of a presentation ISS at one point planned to present at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The presentation described how a now-patched flaw in Cisco’s IOS software can be exploited to take control of a Cisco router. The letter accused the researcher, Richard Forno, of publishing stolen proprietary information and threatened legal action if he did not remove the ISS material. Two weeks ago, ISS and Cisco forcibly removed the presentation from Black Hat conference text, but ISS researcher Michael Lynn resigned from the firm to deliver the presentation anyway. Lynn and Black Hat were subsequently sued by Cisco and ISS, and all parties then came to a legal settlement not to distribute or discuss the material.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080205-black-hat-cisco.html

BellSouth has slashed pricing for its residential DSL service. The RBOC now offers a single price, with no shipping and handling or activation fees, for each speed of its FastAccess DSL service. Prices start at $24.95 per month for 256K service, down $10. RBOCs are slashing prices of DSL service in an effort to offset incursions into their customer base by cable companies, which offer service bundles that combine Internet access generally faster than DSL, along with voice over IP and video. SBC, for example, recently announced DSL service as low as $14.95 per month, which undercuts some dial-up service plans.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080305-bellsouth-dsl.html

While a number of hurdles remain, SBC and AT&T are looking at a rather smooth merger process thus far. As Senior Editor Denise Pappalardo reports, only seven states that can approve or reject the $16 billion merger had yet to weigh in. The deal also has received approvals from Australia, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Norway, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/080105-att-sbc.html