Security threats Toolkit

Story: Tsunami appeal site 'hacker' found guilty

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I understand that what he did broke the law, but that surely indictes that the law itself is faulty here.

The "attack" has been likened to trying doors to see if they're open - a good analogy. Well, if I caught someone trying the locked door of my house I might be pretty upset but I wouldn't prosecute. After all, touching a door knob isn't a crime. Trying it and entering would be. So maybe damage or intent should feature a little more prominently in this law.

Nearly every day the press reports a security researcher, who presumably did not have the permission of the relevant people, discovering a security issue and reporting it responsibly. Should we prosecute these people whose actions improve the security of software and the web, for 'trying door knobs'? If the prosecuted 'hacker' had found such an issue and reported it we'd be hailing him a minor hero, not discussing his fate. Don't forget he's only in this predicament because an alarm was triggered, not because anyone noticed any harm was done. The only person to have suffered loss here was the prosecuted individual.

I can't help feel he's been made a scapegoat here, to discourage others from doing a little exploring. Just another symptom of an increasingly litigious and now prosecution-happy society maybe.

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