Eugene Howard Spafford , commonly known as Spaf, is an American professor of computer science at Purdue University and a leading computer security expert.A historically significant Internet figure, he is renowned for first analyzing the Morris Worm, one of the earliest computer worms, and his role in the Usenet backbone cabal. Spafford was a member of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee 2003-2005, has been an advisor to the National Science Foundation , and serves as an advisor to over a dozen other government agencies and major corporations. Wikipedia
“The only truly secure system is one that is powered off”
"Computer Recreations: Of Worms, Viruses and Core War" by A. K. Dewdney in Scientific American, March 1989, pp 110.
Context: The only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts.
“Reason, etiquette, accountability, and compromise are strangers”
That's all, folks http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/63926ede407972df, posted to Usenet April 29 1993
Context: People don't seem to think before posting, they are purposely rude, they blatantly violate copyrights, they crosspost everywhere, use 20 line signature files, and do basically every other thing the postings (and common sense and common courtesy) advise not to. Regularly, there are postings of questions that can be answered by the newusers articles, clearly indicating that they aren't being read. "Sendsys" bombs and forgeries abound. People rail about their "rights" without understanding that every right carries responsibilities that need to be observed too, not least of which is to respect others' rights as you would have them respect your own. Reason, etiquette, accountability, and compromise are strangers in far too many newsgroups these days.
That's all, folks http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/63926ede407972df, posted to Usenet April 29 1993
Context: People don't seem to think before posting, they are purposely rude, they blatantly violate copyrights, they crosspost everywhere, use 20 line signature files, and do basically every other thing the postings (and common sense and common courtesy) advise not to. Regularly, there are postings of questions that can be answered by the newusers articles, clearly indicating that they aren't being read. "Sendsys" bombs and forgeries abound. People rail about their "rights" without understanding that every right carries responsibilities that need to be observed too, not least of which is to respect others' rights as you would have them respect your own. Reason, etiquette, accountability, and compromise are strangers in far too many newsgroups these days.
Web Security & Commerce (O'Reilly, 1997, S. Garfinkel & G. Spafford), pp 9.
Context: Secure web servers are the equivalent of heavy armored cars. The problem is, they are being used to transfer rolls of coins and checks written in crayon by people on park benches to merchants doing business in cardboard boxes from beneath highway bridges. Further, the roads are subject to random detours, anyone with a screwdriver can control the traffic lights, and there are no police.
“Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea”
Gene Spafford's Personal Page: the Quotable Spaf http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/quotes.html
Context: Usenet is like a herd of performing elephants with diarrhea -- massive, difficult to redirect, awe-inspiring, entertaining, and a source of mind-boggling amounts of excrement when you least expect it.
The Pursuit of Knowledge, from Genesis to Google http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200501/msg00031.html
“Don't sweat it -- it's not real life. It's only ones and zeroes.”
Gene Spafford's Personal Page: the Quotable Spaf http://spaf.cerias.purdue.edu/quotes.html
That's all, folks http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/63926ede407972df, posted to Usenet April 29 1993
"Computer Viruses: A Form of Artificial Life?" (invited contribution); Artificial Life II, Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, vol. XII, eds. D. Farmer, C. Langton, S. Rasmussen, and C. Taylor; Addison-Wesley; pp. 727–747; 1991.
