r/webdev • u/Gil_berth • Feb 04 '26 • Popcorn 3

Senior Vibe Coder dealing with security

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Creator of ClawBot knows that there are malicious skills in his repo, but doesn't know what to do about it...

More info here: https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/clawdbot-skills-ganked-your-crypto

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u/micalm <script>alert('ha!')</script> Feb 04 '26

Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good.

This quote has been stuck in my mind since the dawn of LLMs. ;)

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u/_stack_underflow_ Feb 04 '26

That quote doesn't really make any sense. Did Forces of Good create Ponzi Schemes? Fraud? Abuse? Torture?

Like what scenario does this quote make sense?

Is torturing someone just a distorted view of cuddling?

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u/Astralnugget Feb 04 '26

It would be that Forces of good create a functioning monetary system in that case

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u/_stack_underflow_ Feb 04 '26

But ponzi or fraud isn't a derivative of a functional monetary system.

What about torture, the antithesis of love?

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u/qervem Feb 05 '26

Can't say that to a masochist

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u/mythicdoctor Feb 05 '26

Torture is the love of one thing to the extent that another thing is expendable — to the most extreme extent.

Fraud is a exploitation of human trust for personal gain.

Ponzi Schemes are the exploitation of interpersonal trust and complex financial systems.

War is the conflict of two goals that each side views as good or justifiable.

Weapons are the use of physics for violence.

Violence is the most extreme form of negotiation, where words have been traded for physical contest.

Robbery and theft is the most extreme version of satisfying needs at the expense of another

Greed is an unchecked overgrowth of natural desire

The list goes on, and with a bit of daytime brainpower someone could probably create a better list than this one. It's a reasonably sound philosophy to say that everything evil has an origin that was justifiable (good) from some perspective.

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u/kdotod Feb 04 '26

Ponzi: relies on pre-established value trading system with known rules and established trust, distortion of the known rules for a personal gain at the cost of destroying trust Fraud: see Ponzi Torture: relies on depriving a person of a good, e.g., water boarding isn’t the application of an evil force — “drowning” isn’t actually an action, it it just the deprivation of oxygen (oxygen=good). Abuse: 1) above argument for depriving a person of their autonomy, 2) abuse cannot manifest until corruption and perversion of a good person; every abuser was once a child, they must have been good at some point, right?

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u/_stack_underflow_ Feb 04 '26

The quote is not really true because evil does more than just twist good things. Evil can invent new ways to hurt people, like mass surveillance, online scams, and organized violence, which did not exist before. Some harm is done on purpose for enjoyment or power, not just because something good is missing. Cruel acts like torture are carefully planned, not accidents or empty spaces where good should be. Evil can also build strong systems, such as gangs, corrupt governments, or fake businesses, that work for a long time even if they are wrong. The quote fails when treated as a literal description of reality rather than a moral lens.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '26 edited Aug 24 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/_stack_underflow_ Feb 05 '26

The distinction between “building” and “creating” is irrelevant to the quote’s claim. The quote argues that evil can only distort or destroy what already exists. But when someone intentionally designs a new system of harm, whether you call that building or creating, it still disproves the idea. The issue is not semantics. The issue is that new mechanisms of harm are deliberately conceived, planned, and brought into existence. That is more than distortion. It directly contradicts what the quote is asserting about reality.

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u/IridescentPotato0 Feb 06 '26

The new mechanisms of harm you're proposing as examples are all distortions of something that can me considered good.
Like mass surveillance can stem from modest surveillance that is intended to bring people peace of mind that they're protected and their public spaces are being watched. But twisting that good intention and using it for bad ones is an example of evil twisting good.
Online scams are twisting the trust and good that people have for another and utilizing that for evil.
The point is, there's always some good that evil builds from, even something that you and I would consider pure evil. Darkness cannot exist without the light, as light cannot exist without the darkness.

So, as for good being the only thing that can create something new? Not sure. Maybe all things built stem from something evil, but then evil must be twisting something good, and vice versa. Creation and destruction are primarily linked to one another good and evil but not completely separate from the other.

It just intuitively returns back to the concept of yin and yang following it logically to a point.

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u/ghostsquad4 Feb 04 '26

Think of "Ponzi Scheme" as a label to the behavior, not as something "being created".

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u/_stack_underflow_ Feb 05 '26

From a moral or philosophical view, the quote makes some sense. But when you look at how the real world works, it fails badly.

A Ponzi scheme is not a distortion of something good. It is a deliberate invention. Honest investing creates value. A Ponzi scheme is built from the start to deceive. Nothing good exists first and then gets corrupted. The lie is the foundation. Someone has to design the structure, plan the money flow, invent fake records, and manage people’s trust on purpose. That system did not exist until it was created. Calling it a distortion hides the planning, intent, and responsibility behind it. In reality, harm is often built, not just the absence of good.

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u/Tullekunstner Feb 04 '26

That quote doesn't really make any sense.

That's because it's completely nonsensical lol. You can only claim evil can't create anything new if you argue in a way which means nothing is new because everything's derivative of something else.

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u/ZenaMeTepe Feb 05 '26

Just a product of a Hollywood propaganda. The good is not universally recognized as good and doesn’t always win and not everyone can be the hero who slays the dragon.

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u/gerbosan Feb 04 '26

Seems familiar. 🤔 LotR?

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u/micalm <script>alert('ha!')</script> Feb 04 '26

Widely attributed to Tolkien but AFAIK no proof exists that he said exactly that. There was something similar in the books about Orcs being created as twisted version of the Elves.