Show HN: Vulnia – Security email alerts about technologies you use daily

WestCoastJustin · on Feb 19, 2015

First off, I think there is a need for this type of thing, and I would use something like this!

Some ideas:

  - what does it look like once you login (screenshots)
  - please have an examples page or something like that
  - can I build a list like rails, ubuntu, nginx and have it email me? (examples page)
  - what does the score do? (again, examples page)
  - depending on the data feed, you might also include - 
      app updates, like -- new version of rails, nginx, or flash, etc

leereeves · on Feb 20, 2015

I'd like to use this without e-mail, perhaps by building a list of technologies in a query string like

https://vulnia.com?vulnerabilities=rails%2C%20ruby%2C%20mong...

(naturally, that link doesn't work, or didn't when I wrote this)

woodman · on Feb 19, 2015

So I might be alone in this... but I can't see "Vulnia" without thinking about vulvia, a vulva metropolis where Zaha Hadid has a major architectural influence. Again, that might be a personal problem - but in the interest of feedback, you've made me think of a vulva city.

lfx · on Feb 20, 2015

Nice effort. But how do you determine score? Do you read one by one and then assign numbers? What is the difference from 4 to 5?

jipipayo · on Feb 19, 2015

i need feedback, even if you think this is a piece of shit. Thanks in advance

PeterWhittaker · on Feb 19, 2015

WestCoastJustin had a few a good ones. Basically, show me more so that I know why I should go further.

I like the list, I like the box for entering a technology, but you already know what browser and OS I am using. Keep that list and box, perhaps on one side, but show me another pane with some information about potential vulnerabilities on my machine.

Start with what you know - my OS and browser - then have common but unconfirmed SW, e.g., Adode (a good bet), either MS Office or Libre/Open Office (pretty likely I have at least one), Pages, etc. (in my case, eh?). Add a third section to that right-hand pane with some user profiles, e.g., "are you a developer (vulnerabilities in brew? npm?)? an officer worker (typical office stuff)? a designer (advanced Adobe products)?"

You could go a long way with those, without having to scan my machine.

Get some cred, write a scanner, offer that too. I might use it.

(I think it was CNet that used to have a service like that for Windows - I really liked, but they dropped it before I dropped Windows, and that was a long time ago.)

tie_ · on Feb 19, 2015

I was involved in creating something similar a couple of years ago - http://www.websecuritywatch.com/

My advise would be - aggregate! There most annoying aspect in security news tracking is wading through multiple iterations/announces about the absolutely same vulnerability. Of course that type of aggregation is much easier said than done :)

riquito · on Feb 19, 2015

Use a sensible default for "score". Using "any" there is so much noise that it's discouraging.

The bottom page is somehow broken in the latest Firefox, the paragraph exits from the gray box.

I don't want to register to receive the updates, do you have other ideas about the notifications?

If you like your product, don't give up.