Another reason to be against BPL

[KC9ECI]

http://venturebeat.com/2011/08/07/hackers-can-do-a-lot-of-damage-via-broadband-power-lines/

[n2ize]

Thank God they are releasing free tools to make it easy to hack into these home and business automation systems. Can I give away free burglar tools to make it easy to break into homes and businesses ? :mrgreen:

On a more serious note I think the "BPL" they are talking about is these things like "homeplug" which enables you to extend your Internet access via the buildings wiring as opposed to the widespread Powerline BPL that the power companies wanted to use to provide Internet access over the powerlines.

I sincerely hope that powerline BPL is a dead beast at this point in time.

[KC2UGV]

Thank God they are releasing free tools to make it easy to hack into these home and business automation systems. Can I give away free burglar tools to make it easy to break into homes and businesses ? :mrgreen:


It's the only way to encourage corporations to fix things.

[n2ize]

It's the only way to encourage corporations to fix things.

Yeah but is it ethical ? I guess it can be argued that since in most cases making it easy for people to crack will cause inconvenience rather than death. But then again, could not some life support system be interrupted ? In general I will agree, it is not quite like handing out free bottles of gasoline and books of matches to convince people that their homes are not fireproof.

Another question is, is it legal ? If some kid downloads the software and uses it to hack into some businesses sytems and he gets caught what are the rammifications ?

I see this as a sort of grey area. Good and bad at the same time.

[KC2UGV]

Yeah but is it ethical ? I guess it can be argued that since in most cases making it easy for people to crack will cause inconvenience rather than death. But then again, could not some life support system be interrupted ? In general I will agree, it is not quite like handing out free bottles of gasoline and books of matches to convince people that their homes are not fireproof.

Another question is, is it legal ? If some kid downloads the software and uses it to hack into some businesses sytems and he gets caught what are the rammifications ?

I see this as a sort of grey area. Good and bad at the same time.

It's ethical. Usually, vulnerabilities are disclosed to the vendor, who then has 90 days to rectify it prior to public distribution.

Is it legal? Yes. Software code is an example of free expression (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Entertainment_Merchants_Association). So, the government can not regulate the dissemination of software code.

[n2ize]

It's ethical. Usually, vulnerabilities are disclosed to the vendor, who then has 90 days to rectify it prior to public distribution.

Is it legal? Yes. Software code is an example of free expression (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Entertainment_Merchants_Association). So, the government can not regulate the dissemination of software code.

I agree. But what I mean is not the software itself. Say the software is distributed. In and of itself its legal. But some guy downloads it and then uses it to attack some home or business system. What kind of trouble can that person get into ? Sort of like if I were to give crowbars away for free. Nothing against the law about that. But the act of using the crowbar to jimmy someones door or window to gain access is illegal,

[KC2UGV]

I agree. But what I mean is not the software itself. Say the software is distributed. In and of itself its legal. But some guy downloads it and then uses it to attack some home or business system. What kind of trouble can that person get into ? Sort of like if I were to give crowbars away for free. Nothing against the law about that. But the act of using the crowbar to jimmy someones door or window to gain access is illegal,

Yes, it is. It falls under "Theft of Service" and "Use of a financial instrument to gain unauthorized access to a digital system".

[kb2vxa]

"If some kid downloads the software and uses it to hack into some businesses sytems and he gets caught what are the ramifications?"
Just ask Kevin Mitnick.