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Hey, let's use XOR-encrypt -- it works so well in the movies! But seriously, it's nice to see this sort of post about breaking into the inbreakers' code. I'm

by drostie 15y ago

Hey, let's use XOR-encrypt -- it works so well in the movies! But seriously, it's nice to see this sort of post about breaking into the inbreakers' code. I'm a little surprised that people are treating logging into the FTP server (if not deleting the keylogs) as a legal gray area. I understand the moral dilemma of vigilante justice, but in principle, just doing an FTP connect and LIST seems to be well within your right, given that they gave you software which logs in and makes a directory and sends your keylog. Is there a real concern that someone will take you to court for that?

DanBC 15y ago
> Is there a real concern that someone will take you to court for that? I think the concern is more along drawing a bright line between black hat and white hat. Researchers have to do stuff which is borderline illegal; at least it's sometimes tricky to know if they're breaking any laws. Thus, they'll create a set of clear and easy to understand rules and work to those, which means that they reduce their risk of legal action. "Don't fight abuse with abuse" is (at least was) very common phrase. That's pretty good idea, when some people aren't capable of knowing who the bad person is. We don't want denial of service attacks against innocent people. Having said that, it's annoying as hell that ISPs don't do more to stop this kind of thing.