Is the Mozilla project covering up security holes in its open-source browser?

That seems to be the accusation in a recent note to Bugtraq, in which security researcher Thor Larholm publicized a list of bugs in Mozilla 1.0. The bugs weren't exactly a secret to begin with -- the list itself came from the Mozilla Web site. And they're all fixed in version 1.0.1. But Larholm's post hints darkly that the Mozilla organization should stop "hiding the fact that Mozilla, like most any other software product, has had and will have a long number of security vulnerabilities."

The group has an obligation to publicize the bugs more thoroughly "so that the secinfo industry and the public in general becomes aware of these," Larholm wrote.

I disagree. In fact, I believe we're already getting far more information on security weaknesses than we need, and the accompanying hype that permeates computer security is itself harmful to security.

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