Internet Crime Forum Calls For Tougher Sentences For Hackers
from the like-that-will-teach-them? dept
An internet "crime group" made up of businesses, police departments, and government officials in the UK are saying that sentences against computer hackers should be tougher in order to discourage the behavior. Of course, all of these laws have a very loose definition of "hacking", meaning that some activities that are entirely benign can get a curious hacker locked up for five years. If people want to crack down on hacking there needs to be a much better definition between hacking that actually causes real, classifiable damage, and those where someone claims $50 billion lost after someone happens to find an open security hole in their server. Clearly, breaking in to someone else's machines is a problem, but authorities never seem to take into account what actual damage (if any) is done. Instead, they seem to get more scared and call for tougher sentences.
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So, what about a situation where someone simply discovers that your website is not secure, and tells you how to fix it? Should that person also go to jail for five years for "hacking" your site? It's not a situation where everything is clearcut.
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