3 ms·
I can't see Facebook ever pursuing the criminal angle in this situation. I actually wonder if Alex's boss isn't a little unhappy with his response because it wi
by troisx 11y ago
I can't see Facebook ever pursuing the criminal angle in this situation. I actually wonder if Alex's boss isn't a little unhappy with his response because it will make people think twice about their bug bounty (just look at the backlash here). The bug bounty was put out there so that people don't use or sell exploits as blackhats.
- piker 11y agoFacebook doesn't have to "pursue" criminal charges, however. It's the Government that brings criminal charges. In this case, Alex would just be a witness (willing or otherwise) the Government used to produce evidence of the researcher's crime. There is a mistaken understanding that if the "victim" of a crime doesn't "press charges", then there is no criminal liability. However, the "victim" is really only a witness to the actual crime in the eyes of the law. Here, the researcher has arguably confessed to a number of computer crimes, and if a DA/USAO or the DOJ were interested in making a statement, they might have enough evidence to indict the researcher on the strength of this post alone. Facebook, while perhaps not interested in "pressing charges", would have to comply with a criminal investigation here.