The forum provided a vehicle for anyone to disclose and discuss computer vulnerabilities, including security researchers and product vendors.
Bugtraq was created on November 5, 1993 by Scott Chasin[2] in response to the perceived failings of the existing Internet security infrastructure of the time, particularly CERT.
Levy considered the idea of abstracting Bugtraq to be platform-specific, to reduce irrelevant information for those interested only in particular operating systems.
[13] Subsequent posts challenged many aspects of the list, including the full disclosure of vulnerabilities, and suggested it either go unmoderated or that moderators change the way they approached it.
David Mirza Ahmad, one of the many co-authors of Hack Proofing Your Network, Second Edition, took over from Levy and continued until he stepped down on February 23, 2006.
[16] During his tenure, Ahmad proposed the list adopt more "community involvement" and "a more democratic process for making important decisions on the future of Bugtraq and the Security Focus website".
This came after the BID vulnerability database maintained by Symantec stopped being publicly updated on July 26, 2019, just over one month before it was acquired by Broadcom.
[28] However, the decision was reconsidered based on feedback from the community; and on January 17, 2021, Accenture posted a message to the list announcing the continuation of the Bugtraq, [29] and followed up with a lengthier blog explaining their goals.