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The Computer Owner - Guilty or Not Guilty?

Posted by Cliff on from the guilt-by-association-may-not-be-sufficient dept.

Von-at-Infosec_Writers asks: "It is relatively easy to trace a hack back to a particular computer, but proving that a specific person committed the crime could become much more difficult especially since, as a recent CNN.com article stated, a hacker's legal defense can be: it wasn't me but my hijacked computer that committed the crime. 'In some cases, I do suspect there are people whose computer is taken over by third parties. It's also a clever defense to exculpate your client,' says Michael Allison of the Internet Crimes Group.What are possibilities to overcome this problem; to prove that the computer owner, without a doubt, is in fact responsible or not responsible for the crime?" As computers become more and more prevalent in our infrastructure, the consequences for computer crime become that much more serious. How much responsibility does the owner of an Internet-connected computer have for crimes committed using their equipment, and what are ways we can best determine their involvement, or lack of it, in said crimes?

2 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. Breaking Point Chaos and Destruction Online by segment · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Been there done that

    It's actually very easy to frame someone online which will be (mark my word) the next big thing in divorce cases, criminal cases, etal. I won't comment anymore on these issues though. I've been through the whole shabang. One thing people should be aware of though is the ease of which someone could actually do something malicious to another person. Courts, well let's just say if you're the accused, pray you don't get a computer phobic (which the DA will try to ensure he selects the most of) jury.

    --
    MoFscker
  2. WiFi as a defense by fmaxwell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I have been waiting to see one of the RIAA lawsuit defendents use WiFi as a defense. If someone runs a WiFi 802.11a/b/g/etc. network and presents a defense in which they claim that the shared files must have been on a neighbor's computer, it would create the reasonable doubt necessary for the jury to find the defendent not guilty.

    I believe that it's only a matter of time and when it happens, it will put a real crimp in the RIAA's plans to sue every user of Kazaa.

    P.S. Don't waste bandwidth claiming that the defendent is legally responsible for the actions of others over their unsecured WiFi setup. That's not how the law works. If you leave your car unlocked and I steal it, you are not responsible if I smuggle drugs in your stolen vehicle.