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Are there any compelling reasons why it should be legal to sell exploits to anyone other than the company whose software is vulnerable? By neatly bundling these
by m12k 5y ago
Are there any compelling reasons why it should be legal to sell exploits to anyone other than the company whose software is vulnerable? By neatly bundling these exploits up and selling the hacking tool to the highest bidder, this company is giving nation-state spying capabilities to cartels and dictators who would otherwise not have had that. I don't see why that shouldn't be regulated the same way as if they were selling nukes.
- yabones 5y agoIt's even more insane when you remember that strong encryption was regulated as munitions until the mid 90s [1,2] - and actual cyber-weapons aren't today. Software that can cause real damage to not just data and business activities, but endanger lives is completely legal to sell to despotic lunatics. If you sold a bag of fertilizer to a Syrian you'd go straight to Guantanamo, but somehow this is okay. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_th... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20051201184530/http://www.cyberlaw.com/cylw1095.html https://web.archive.org/web/20051201184530/http://www.cyberl...
- tim333 5y agoLaws are made by the government of the country in question and in this case the government, Israel, approved the sales and used them to its advantage.
- aj3 5y agoLEO and TLA need vendors with constant supply of exploits.
- red_trumpet 5y agoIirc the software sold by the NSO group is considered a weapon under Israel law, so it is somewhat regulated. Not as heavily as nukes though. This begs the question: Is there a compelling reason why selling weapons to other states should be legal?
- iFreilicht 5y agoIn Germany, our economy pretty much depends on weapons and cars, so that. But apart from economic reasons, not really.