What Kind Of Punishment Should Virus Writers Get?
from the that'll-show-them... dept
While some are wondering if virus writers deserve jailtime, it looks like Russia is taking a fairly lenient approach to dealing with them. After a virus writer admitted he was guilty of writing some viruses, he was fined 3,000 rubles, which is just a bit over $100. Of course, perhaps the reasoning is that none of the viruses he wrote actually spread very far -- which should raise some other questions. Is it illegal to write viruses? Or illegal to spread them? If so, should the punishment be determined by how much damage the viruses did?
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Virus Writing
However, virus writers should be liable if they didn't take proper precautions. If a virus writer posts his code on a hacker site, I think existing negligence laws could apply. If a college researcher writes one and a student steals the code and distributes it, I wouldn't hold the researcher liable.
Of course, distributing a virus to the general public should almost always be a criminal act. And, like other criminal acts, the damage caused should definitely be taken into account. A drunk driver who didn't cause any property damage or any injuries shouldn't be punished as harshly as one who ran into a car and killed six people.
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Re: Virus Writing
I've been in plenty of conversations, in person, in newsgroups, in email lists, where the conversations goes something like this...
"hey, there's a problem with x, can someone explain"
"hey, x happens because a limit in y which is there because of z"
"so, wait, you mean if i change y i blow the whole thing wide open?"
"yes, here's a sample that shows it."
posts code.
this is how exploits are found and developed in professional conversations on respectable sites. people might post frameworks that do amazing things just to show a point. these things don't happen in malice and I think one makes a mistake by attempting to regulate where the expression happens or by attempting to divine motive.
I'd stick with 'whoever intentionally compiles and intentionally releases is the guilty party'.
The authors are naturally going to want to stay out of trouble and they do that by posting fragments or excerpts, if they were to post full source, they'd have to deal with defending against accusation.. yet when the virus is just 50 lines of code they will have to show the whole thing so that people can defend against it and should not be held responsible is someone goes nuts with their model!
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Posting Code
Using my negligence model, if you post code that exploits a system problem without knowing who your audience is, that's pretty negligent.
In the real world, I can be put in jail for having a gun in my own house if somebody finds and kills somebody with it. If I gave a loaded gun to somebody I didn't know, that would be worse -- and very similar to posting dangerous code where you don't know who you're giving it to.
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Proportionality
I say fry some of the bastards, and potential authors of future viral code will think twice before deciding to unleash their creations on the world. Same with spammers. But I'm not overly extreme, and would despense with the death penalty. Just make them mandatory enrollies in organ donor programs instead; and if they have an organ that a DECENT human being needs, then it is mandatory that they donate it at once. Harsh, yes. Deterrent? You bet your ass!, or kidney, or heart, or eyes, or...
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Make it fit the crime
So if some writes and virus and posts it's or let's it free, the degree of the crime should be comisserate with the harm caused. If all you get is an annoying pop-up dialog and nothing else, maybe a small fine. If the virus unintenationally causes harm then something akin to manslaughter would apply ie yes you did the crime but you didn't really mean to cause that much harm. And my favorite, causing intentional harm to others. Make the time fit the crime in some way. Prison time, yes. Removal from all computer related items, yes. Virus's which are written to cause financial harm should be treated as robbery or attempted robbery.
Our law system has the basic foundation in place to handle most computer related crimes but needs some definite tweaking in some places to incorporate technology advances. Which just need all the lawyers and citizens committees and business committees etc to get out of the way so they can get amended and put on the books. They can be amended over time as other laws are.
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No Subject Given
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Re: Proportionality
Also, I am for the death penalty for virus writers. If those slimy little pencil neck, pimpled geeks know that they may pay with their lives for what their nerdy little excuse for a sense of humor erroneously tells them is cool or funny, maybe they'll think twice, or at least s**t themselves, which I'm sure they do on a regular basis anyway!!!! (I've had PC's that have been destroyed by viruses and worms planted by these no-good, pocket protector wearing, tape on glasses trolls!!!) FRY THEM ALL, BUT TORTURE THEM FIRST (UNTIL THEY CRY OUT LIKE THE PATHETIC LITTLE P**SIES THEY REALLY ARE!!!!!!)
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Re: Proportionality
in public? Its quite a moderate punishment for a
slime who takes over millons of computers and
wont let go until u buy his "anti-virus" software.
On second thoughts, just fry em
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Virus authors can go to hell
Also, wouldn't it be more beneficial to create a a division of law enforcement dedicated to cyber crimes? More people are victim to cyber crimes than regular crime nowadays. Just in case any politicians are reading, here's a suggestion; FIRE EVERY DEA OFFICER ASSIGNED TO STOPPING CANNABIS CULTIVATION IN CALIFORNIA, LEGALIZE CANNABIS, DIVERT .1% OF THE 65 BILLION DOLLARS TO A CYBER CRIME LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY, AND CONVICT PEOPLE COMMITTING REAL CRIMES.
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I would castrate the male virus writers, and insert knives into the female virus witers
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Virus Writers
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None
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Re: None
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Virus Writer punishment
Next, they should be given hard labor, and I mean hard. I'm talking 14 hour days in the hot sun and freezing cold without much of a break, chopping weeds or digging ditches or patching roads.
If they have intentionally caused harm to millions of people, I don't think 20 years of hard labor is too much. If they have unintentionally caused harm (as in leaking code unintentionally) or if they intended the virus as a joke, such as people that bring a gun into the bank think it's funny, they should be given a sentence accordingly.
Perhaps that would be a month to a year.
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