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Should The FBI Have Arrested 'The Hacker Who Hacked No One'? (thedailybeast.com)
Last week The Daily Beast ran an article about the FBI's arrest of "the hacker who hacked no one." In December they'd arrested 26-year-old Taylor Huddleston, "the author of a remote administration tool, or RAT, called NanoCore that happens to be popular with hackers." It's been "linked to intrusions in at least 10 countries," reported Kevin Poulsen, but "as Huddleston sees it, he's a victim himself -- hackers have been pirating his program for years and using it to commit crimes."
The article quotes Huddleston's lawyer, as well as a Cornell law professor who warns of the "chilling effect" of its implications on programmers. But it also says security experts who examined the software are "inherently skeptical" of Huddleston's claim that the software was intended for legal use, since that's "a common claim amongst RAT authors." Security researcher Brian Krebs also sees "a more complex and nuanced picture" after "a closer look at the government's side of the story -- as well as public postings left behind by the accused and his alleged accomplices."
Click through for the rest of the story.
Mark Rumold, senior staff attorney at the EFF, tells Krebs "I don't read the government's complaint as making the case that selling some type of RAT is illegal, and if that were the case I think we would be very interested in this." Also skeptical is Allison Nixon, director of security research for New York City-based security firm Flashpoint. "Huddleston can claim the DRM is to prevent cybercrime, but realistically speaking the DRM is part of the payment system -- to prevent people from pirating the software or initiating a Paypal chargeback." Krebs writes:
Nixon, a researcher who has spent countless hours profiling hackers and activities on Hackforums, said selling the NanoCore RAT on Hackforums and simultaneously scolding people for using it to illegally spy on people "could at best be seen as the actions of the most naive software developer on the Earth. In the greater context of his role as the money man for Limitless Keylogger, it does raise questions about how sincere his anti-cybercrime stance really is."
And of course, the FBI's complaint also notes that the software was promoted on HackForums.net. The Daily Beast says Huddleston eventually realized "it was a terrible place to launch a legitimate remote administration tool. There aren't a lot of corporate procurement officers on HackForums," adding that at first Huddleston handed off the business, "while continuing to develop the code as an 'advisor' in exchange for 60 percent of every sale."
Slashdot reader Highdude702 believes Huddleston's arrest "is an outrage, and is a push too far, also in the wrong direction," calling it "the story of a script kiddie gone big time...arrested for being an accomplice to a crime committed by people he had never met, let alone knew well enough to commit crimes with."
What do Slashdot's readers think?
The article quotes Huddleston's lawyer, as well as a Cornell law professor who warns of the "chilling effect" of its implications on programmers. But it also says security experts who examined the software are "inherently skeptical" of Huddleston's claim that the software was intended for legal use, since that's "a common claim amongst RAT authors." Security researcher Brian Krebs also sees "a more complex and nuanced picture" after "a closer look at the government's side of the story -- as well as public postings left behind by the accused and his alleged accomplices."
Click through for the rest of the story.
Mark Rumold, senior staff attorney at the EFF, tells Krebs "I don't read the government's complaint as making the case that selling some type of RAT is illegal, and if that were the case I think we would be very interested in this." Also skeptical is Allison Nixon, director of security research for New York City-based security firm Flashpoint. "Huddleston can claim the DRM is to prevent cybercrime, but realistically speaking the DRM is part of the payment system -- to prevent people from pirating the software or initiating a Paypal chargeback." Krebs writes:
Nixon, a researcher who has spent countless hours profiling hackers and activities on Hackforums, said selling the NanoCore RAT on Hackforums and simultaneously scolding people for using it to illegally spy on people "could at best be seen as the actions of the most naive software developer on the Earth. In the greater context of his role as the money man for Limitless Keylogger, it does raise questions about how sincere his anti-cybercrime stance really is."
And of course, the FBI's complaint also notes that the software was promoted on HackForums.net. The Daily Beast says Huddleston eventually realized "it was a terrible place to launch a legitimate remote administration tool. There aren't a lot of corporate procurement officers on HackForums," adding that at first Huddleston handed off the business, "while continuing to develop the code as an 'advisor' in exchange for 60 percent of every sale."
Slashdot reader Highdude702 believes Huddleston's arrest "is an outrage, and is a push too far, also in the wrong direction," calling it "the story of a script kiddie gone big time...arrested for being an accomplice to a crime committed by people he had never met, let alone knew well enough to commit crimes with."
What do Slashdot's readers think?
...everytime the media kneejerkingly supports the bad guys!
.On or about November 21,2013, HUDDLESTON caused an activation email to be sent to a customer who had purchased the Limitless key logger, knowing that individual intended to use the Limitless key logger for the purpose of committing unlawful and unauthorized computer intrusions. 'The email contained the license serial code and instructions for how to download and activate the keylogger.
Guy is toast and rightly so.
Do you arrest Glock cause someone was murdered with one of the pistols they made?
Yes, if Glock ran commercial ads stating their products were most and solely useful for murder and no other uses, they would likely be arrested or at least charged with crimes.
It would be difficult to make the claim that Glocks handgun products have any other purpose than injuring or killing people. Handguns are mostly worthless as a means of hunting either for food or sport. The simple fact is that handguns are made to kill. I think it is a perfect analogy to the tools this person made. Whether Glock advertises it that way or not, they are what they are.
Given that, I have to agree with the original sentiment. The maker of a tool, no matter how evil the perceived usages of the tool are, should not be accountable for how and when the tools are used. Even the most evil of tools can be put to good uses too. For example, if and when the "Armageddon/Deep Impact" scenario actually comes around, we will be very hard put to save ourselves without nuclear weapons, and the development of those tools lead directly to the development of nuclear power production, and it is entirely possible that this will be the only thing that prevents us from cooking our planet to death by way of AGW
I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted