The issue of security vulnerability disclosure has been a hot topic for a long time now, however recent efforts to bring in new disclosure guidelines are unlikely to change anything.

It's hard not to chuckle just a little bit every time some group purporting to represent the best interests of the online community comes forward with its draft standard for disclosing vulnerabilities to software companies and the public.

It invariably goes something like this:

The researcher shall notify the vendor X days in advance of releasing details of the vulnerability. The researcher may/may not (please circle) publish exploit code for the vulnerability X days after the initial vendor notification.

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