Hypothetically speaking, supposed Mr.X was able to get into a restricted link in daniweb where Mr.X didn't have the privilege to do so regularly. What would happen to Mr.X is he was caught? Is there any laws against it?

Recommended Answers

All 19 Replies

This would probably come under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the USA, or the Computer Misuse Act in the UK (most countries have different laws covering much the same thing).

The US law defines hacking as having "knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access" which your example would fit into I imagine.

As for punishment that could be a fine or prison term, but then how long is a piece of string.

My advice to the hypothetical Mr X, as an administrator here, would be DON'T DO IT!

"knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access"

But from above, Mr.X wasn't accessing a computer per say. So then wouldn't this fail?

He would be "exceeding authorized access" quite clearly.

For some reason I didn't read the second part of that. Facepalm -__-

Facepalm? Isn't that the new Google Social Networking resource...

:)

[ATTACH]21438[/ATTACH]
:)

LMAO - Classic. Jean Luc Piccard. Yes!

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

I love TNG :) Actually, I love Voyager more. But I digress.

I liked him as Locutus of Borg best...

As for punishment that could be a fine or prison term, but then how long is a piece of string.

My guess is that Mr. X is already in prison so he probably could care less about the laws of any country. Some prisons in USA are nothing more than country clubs.


To boldly go where no man has gone before.

No man's land. ;)

Another question. How safe is Daniweb, like what precaution does daniweb takes to prevent hackers from stealing private data. I have seen websites that belongs to huge company. They hired security experts and web developers to develop a website, but hackers are still able to steal data. They made it seems like a piece of cake. Is the security experts not doing their job well or the hackers are too good at their own game ( Stealing Data )?

I liked him as Locutus of Borg best...

"The best of both worlds"

Resistance is futile...

Man you guys are really something. Anyways, I told Mr.X to stop and he gave me his word. So its all peaches and cream

That 'something' could be geeks, or maybe nerds... :)

Can you tell us, by PM if you want, which restricted link Mr X was able to access regularly so that Dani can look into it purely from a fixing any holes persepctive rather than go get Mr X perspective?

I think it is a $50,000 fine or $100,000 fine and/or up to 5 years in Jail. But I am not sure. I used to have a hacking book, and it said something like that.

Can Mr X be one of daniweb ex members or just a normal hacker.

Sounds more like Mr X has found a glitch that allows him to access a forum that he shouldn't be able to - Area 51 for example - rather than being a hacker to be honest...

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.