
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 5, 1995                   TAG: 9504050089
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Short

SECURITY SOFTWARE SHOWS POTENTIAL FOR GOOD - OR EVIL

Computer security experts could be in for a devil of a time from SATAN when its creator distributes it free on the Internet today.

SATAN is a new piece of software designed to find security gaps in computer systems and make them harder to crack, and Dan Farmer and his partner are releasing it despite fears that hackers will use it to execute break-ins.

``As far as abuse goes, I think it will actually decrease, because people can make better decisions about improving their security,'' Farmer said Tuesday.

SATAN, which stands for Security Administrators Tool for Analyzing Networks, lets people who run computer systems directly linked to the Internet find security holes.

While there have been similar programs, and serious hackers already are familiar with ways of breaking into computer systems, experts say SATAN is significant because it is easy enough for novices to use.

Youngsters could easily play computer pranks, online vandals could scramble a hospital's medical records and white-collar criminals could steal corporate secrets, said Donn Parker, a computer security consultant with SRI International, a consulting company in Menlo Park.

``It's like any other powerful tool: It can be used for great good and great harm,'' Parker said.

Farmer, who lives in San Francisco, developed SATAN with Wietse Venema, a security expert at the University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

SATAN's release has prompted government agencies and businesses to take steps against electronic intrusions.

by CNB