Hacked systems and the law

[Brian Densmore]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Hutchins [mailto:hutchins at tarcanfel.org]
> Sent: Monday, April 21, 2003 10:07 AM
> To: Bradley Miller
> Cc: kclug
> Subject: Re: Hacked systems and the law
> 
> 
> Quoting Bradley Miller <bradmiller at dslonramp.com>: 
>  
> > They installed a tool kit that took a functional box and made it a  
> > compromised system -- albeit one that still works . . . 
> it's still not the  
> > same system that was there before they came in.  That is 
> breaking and  
> > entering as well as vandalism, and theft all rolled into one.   
>  
> You are grossly exagerating the effect they had on your 
> system.  It's not 
> breaking, it's not theft, the system still does it's job just 
> fine, and it was 
> OPEN TO HACKING ALL ALONG because the ADMINISTRATOR FAILED TO 
> ADEQUATELY 
> SECURE IT.  
Ok let look at this from a logical standpoint. 
[dusts off symbolic logic college textbook]

Someone walks down the street checking car doors to see if they are
locked.
One door trips an alarm the man walks on. 
Another is locked, but the window is open, he reaches in to pull the
lock up
and opens the door, uses a tool to pop out the ignition key and replace
it with a
master lock that takes any key of a certain type, while in there he pops
the door
lock and replaces with the same. 

Did the man break and enter? He didn't break anything. The owner of the
car can 
still use it. Did he do anything criminal? 
All he did was install a tool that makes it possible for him to drive
the car 
anytime he wants to.

I think most rational people would say this was a criminal act.
Someone could conceivably break into my system someday. I have warnings
posted whenever
anyone logs in about what is and is not acceptable use of the system. If
someone were
to bypass my security and login they would see this. No system is
entirely secure.

my login screen looks like this:

Legal junk
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peace,
Brian