US Wont Regulate Hacking Software – For Now

We all know about hackers. They’ve been in the news a lot in the last few years, from the Xbox and Sony Christmas Day hacks to the large databases of customer details being hacked on a nearly monthly basis. One hack was actually targeted on a hacking group, the Hacking Team and ended up with 400GB of their data being taken. This included everything from their hacking tools and the information required to use them to target companies and everyday users. After this, a small piece of legislation was developed and marketed to the US government, a piece of legislation which is now possibly going to be scrapped following concerns from pretty much everybody in the IT security industry.

The Department of Commerce first put the legislation forward and stated that the development and testing of exploits, zero-day and intrusion type software should not only be limited and controlled but also made illegal in some aspects. Say hello to the outcry from professionals who not only deal with writing but also stopping software like this from being used for malicious means, who even stated that not only would it limit and criminalise the research into nasty software, but also mean that all those nasty bugs and exploits that you don’t want people using, would be pushed onto the black market.

While the department of commerce stated that “a second iteration of this regulation will be promulgated”, it’s clear that while they may not be able to get away with vague descriptions and tight control on security software, they will still attempt to get some form of control pushed regarding what they call “weaponised software”.

Thank you Reuters for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of the Art of Add.