Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Appropriate Punishment For Crackers?

Posted by Hemos on from the what-are-the-consequences dept.

Cally writes "There's a Kevin Poulson article on SecurityFocus reporting that the US Sentencing Commission is seeking opinions about the appropriate punishment for convicted system crackers and other black-hat types. On one hand, it seems absurd to ruin the entire life of a foolish 15 year-old for committing the equivalent of graffiti. Then again, perhaps these people are cyber-terrorists who should be illegally imprisoned, indefinitely, without a trial, charges, or legal representation? You choose."

12 of 633 comments (clear)

  1. Depends... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If I'm the accused, I want a nice short probation...if someone cracking my website, then I want 'em hung, drawn and quartered...

    1. Re:Depends... by Cinnibar+CP · · Score: 5, Funny

      They can pack up your AV gear and walk out, but you can't shoot them.

      But you CAN smash them in the kneecap with a crowbar. I find it's an adequate, non-lethal deterrent in my homestead.

      Trust me, they won't be doing much walking afterwards.

  2. Use DOS by rf0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Force them to use DOS for a few years. That should be painful enough

    --
    Cheap UK and US VPS
  3. IANAL... by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Funny
    But I seem to recall that the criminal justice system is geared towards not ruining the lives of 15 year olds by (usually) erasing their criminal history when they turn 18. The usual exception for this is in murder cases where the kids are often tried as adults.

    Personally I think we should take a page from Singapore's book and explore the latest options in caning. Nothing drives a lesson in ethics home more quickly than being beaten severely with a bamboo stick by a martial arts master. I would also view caning as an appropriate remedy for spammers violating anti-spam laws, telemarketers ignoring do-not-call lists, as part of a comprehensive package for the last round of fraud-perpitrating corporate CEOs and companies who file frivolous patent lawsuits based on laughable patents.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  4. Easy... by YuppieScum · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hack Microsoft? Rewards and adulation...

    Hack me? Nail the fucker to a tree...

    --
    This sig left unintentionally blank.
  5. Re:Which protocol is that? by kien · · Score: 3, Funny
    (The law also created new penalties for hackers who literally kill people over the Internet.)

    Ignoring for the moment the practicalities of killing somebody over the Internet(!?), doesn't the USA already have murder/manslaughter laws? Why does there need to be special legislation depending on the method employed? Do you have special laws for murder with a knife; with a gun; with a mango?

    Good questions. All I know is that a whole lot of MMORPG players are totally screwed.

    DoJ: "What? You play a paladin in EverQuest? Murderer! We know about that guard you killed in Freeport to get your Soulfire!!! Take him away, boys!"

    snicker

    --K.
    --
    Sig: Bad people happen. Try to avoid being one of them.
  6. Re:graffiti? by BlueGecko · · Score: 3, Funny

    Your analogy doesn't work. If I leave my house with a door unlocked, then your entering and destroying (because, let's be honest, that's what a cracker as opposed to a hacker does) is still just as illegal as if I had locked the door. If you accidentally bump my house and it's so shoddily made that it falls over, that's not the same thing. That's more like the Slashdot Effect.

  7. Crackers? by sielwolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well I think white folks should get the same sentences as minorities commiting the same crime. What makes you think that honkeys have the-

    Wait... what are we talking about again?

    --
    What is music when you despise all sound?
  8. Punishment... by evilviper · · Score: 2, Funny
    Appropriate Punishment For Crackers?

    I'd say the only punishment appropriate for crackers, is to eat them.

    If you don't get it, just move along.
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  9. Re:graffiti? by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmmmmm, I wonder if I catch a hacker on my site/server, that I cannot effectively 'kill' him

    when I ran an ISP I used to have trouble with this little guy that was constantly annoying me.. so I set a nice trap for him...

    a DOS program that was based on a bios flashing program.... basically a wrapper.. named passwords.exe

    and left it in the /root directory for him as bait, and let him crack the root password that I sait to be simple and easily cracked.

    my wrapper was simply to fire up a bios writer (command line and ZERO the bios's first few bytes.. making that computer effectively a doorstop) and it tried for 3 different types of chipsets... I dont remember what ones.. a buddy of mine that was unbelieveable in assembler and hardware wrote it... it was the ultimate in evil payload and would have been really really REALLLY nasty as a virii. anyways....

    that pest never logged in again or attempted anything again after he downloaded that program....

    I fully support that if they break in, tie a shotgun to a door handle and blow them away kind of trap. and that is effectively what I did to this kiddie.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  10. Re:Phone support by AntiNorm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Make them do 1st level phone support for an AOL for a few hundred hours, that will teach them ...

    Or restrict them so that they will only be allowed to have internet access through AOL...

    --

    I pledge allegiance to the flag...
    of the Corporate States of America...
  11. Forget Graffiti by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Haven't you guys heard? Graffiti is dead. You're going to have to do your hacking with a keyboard from here on out.