A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 7: Computer Crime1 PowerPoint ® Slides to Accompany A Gift of Fire : Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computers and the Internet (2nd Edition) by Sara Baase San Diego State University Modified and Presented by Cuong Tham PowerPoint slides created by Sherry Clark Copyright 2003 Prentice Hall

A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 7: Computer Crime2 Topic Asmt. 1: Hacking to improve security A Dutch hacker, who said he worked in computer security, sent e- mail to Microsoft warning that some of its Web sites were vulnerable to break-ins. Microsoft did not reply until after he broke in to one of the Web sites about a week later and left a taunting message as proof. Was his action ethical? Did he do Microsoft and the public a favor? What might be some reasons why Microsoft did not respond to his ? Group 1: Argue in support of the hacker. Group 2: Argue against the hacker.

A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 7: Computer Crime3 Group 2 against the hacker Congress passed Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in 1986 (CFAA) According to CFAA, activities are legitimate when performed with authorization, but are illegal when done intentionally without authorization or by exceeding one’s authorization The action of the Dutch hack is against law

A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 7: Computer Crime4 His action is not ethical As an intruder, his intention is uncertain. Because his action, the system administrator had to spend time and money to make sure the file is not modified in order to keep consistency

A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 7: Computer Crime5 Even if his intention is good, that’s a possibility that he can accidentally damage the system he’s hacking.