They have to or they may get in trouble due to our stupid laws. From the article: "Initially, Smith says, he was wary about going public with his research, as

They have to or they may get in trouble due to our stupid laws. From the article: "Initially, Smith says, he was wary about going public with his research, as this kind of “hacking back” falls into a “gray area”: It may be breaking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a sweeping US computer-crimes law, but he’s doing it against foreign-based criminals."