Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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?

4 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. Looking for a night of hot anal sex! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Write me!

    CHRIS@jobstorestaffing.com
    CHRIS@jobstorestaffi ng.com
    Come on Taco.. I want it!
    CHRIS@jobstorestaffing.com
    CHRIS@jobstoresta ffing.com
    Come on Hemos! I need it!
    CHRIS@jobstorestaffing.com
    CHRIS@jobstoresta ffing.com
    CHRIS@jobstorestaffing.com
    Come on Timothy.. I'm big!

  2. First, Get An Elementary School Education by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    "it wasn't me
    but my hijacked computer that
    committed the crime."

    Can't you lamerz at Slashdot do anything right?

    "it wasn't me" should read "it wasn't I".

    Now go back dreaming up more bogus stories.

    Seditiously yours,
    Kilgore Trout

  3. Re:Innocent Until Proven Clueful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll


    If you have MP3s on your computer, you're guilty of a crime. Case closed. Just as if you had pot in your car ... illegal means illegal. Pot = illegal, and MP3s = illegal. I don't know what is so difficult about this.

  4. Re:Think about it by cyt0plas · · Score: -1, Troll

    The annoying thing was that every one else's grade was changed just a little. I had had a number of 0s (sickness) which were all changed to 100s. Of course, the reason they targeted me was most likely the fact that I had talked in class for a bit about hardware keyloggers.

    --
    Contact Me (got tired of viruses emailing me).