Hunting down what we do not understand

A European country, Germany, is in the final stage of passing a law that will constitute it illegal to create, own and use so-called “hacking tools”. It is said that they have tightened definitions “making denial of service attacks and attempts to sniff data on third-party wireless networks, for example, clearly criminal” as reported by The Register [1].

This is only made worse by the EU seeking to create their own European-wide policy against cyber-crime [2,3] and a country within the EU putting forward its own “anti-hacking” law will only pave the way.

We will try to keep it simple and understandable for those with PhDs and in high managing positions.

Man kind should stop going through loops in history.
– What they see as being different, they refuse to try to understand.
– What they don’t understand, they are automatically afraid of.
– What they are afraid of, poses a threat to them.
– What it is considered as posing a threat, they wipe out.

If you wonder what all this means, go back and think of the “Europeans” trying discover the rest of the world, and when they were seeing “different” kinds of people; they killed them because they could not understand them. These people were a threat to them, so wiped them out. I refer to Africans, the burning of “witches” in the middle-ages, and the example of Columbus when he discovered America and wiped out the locals.

In conclusion, people who cannot secure their systems, protect their digital assets and take the required action to prevent their systems from being hacked or know what to do if they do get hacked should go back to the University and actually attend the lectures and tutorials. Yes, accept that you will get hacked one day because it is impossible to achieve 100% security, however make sure you have the right person doing the right job for you.

Yes, by walking down the street you could be mugged anytime. Should we make a law that you could sue anyone (because you assumed his/her intentions) that would approach you?
The world is trying to evolve. It would be great if you could stop being afraid of things that are different and you are obsessed that they are posing a threat to you, because you do not have the appropriate personnel to deal with it.

Links Used:

[1] Germany declares hacking tools ‘verboten’ –

[2] Germany adopts “anti-hacker” law; critics say it breeds insecurity –

[3] The commission communication “towards a general policy on the fight against cyber crime” –

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9 Responses to Hunting down what we do not understand

  1. Robert says:

    I am told the UK already has anti-hacking laws, with up to 5 year prison terms as penalties. I doubt that Germany’s laws are more strict.

    Arguing that people who don’t secure their PCs with 75 different steps are at fault is like arguing that anyone without CCTV cameras, burglar alarms, chickenwire fences and automatic intruder shooting systems is to blame if they get burgled. Sure, we could always do more, spend more money, live less conveniently – but why? Because we don’t have the right legal tools to imprison criminals? Surely getting the legal tools is an easier solution.

    And I might not want to sue everyone who approaches me in the street (those asking for directions are fine. Pickpockets, Big Issue Sellers, Charity workers, animal rights signature collecters and insurance / mobile phone contract / other sales people are not, and should be locked away as far as I’m concerned, but that’s just me and I am antisocial when it comes to parasites and hard sellers), but I certainly want anyone who approaches me in the street and nicks my wallet to be caught and prosecuted.

  2. theagingfanboy says:

    I’m intrigued by the assertion that there’s no-one in the world of African or Native American extraction. I’ve got a feeling at the back of my mind that that’s not correct.

  3. G. Fragkos says:

    I think there is been a misunderstanding.

    Of course, UK has Ã¢â‚¬Å“anti-hackingÃ¢â‚¬Â laws and laws for people who perform such illegal actions. The laws are there to deal with the actions and not with the hypothetical Ã¢â‚¬Å“illegalÃ¢â‚¬Â use of a piece of software. There is been a big argument if port-scan is illegal or not. What do you think, is port-scanning illegal?

    Of course, I expect from the security system administrator working in the large company and getting paying a significant amount of money to know the 75 security steps as you mention. Furthermore, I expect from the programmer that this large company hired to write an application to know how to avoid common exploitation of his software.

    Of course, we want the person who nicks our wallet to be caught and prosecuted.
    But how can you prosecute someone because he has a Swiss army knife by his belt. He can use it to hurt you, he can use it to cut bread, he can use it to open envelops or cut his restrains if someone kidnaps him. No one is able to know his/her intentions until he/she actually performs an action.
    That is the world; we must judge people for their actions and not for their assumed intentions. I personally believe that no one can turn around and say that a specific computer program can be classified as hacking tool. It is not the tool that performs the hacking activity but the person (threat agent) that seats behind it and actually uses it.

    Concluding, how can you classify a tool as hacking tool? Are Notepad, MS Paint, ping, ipconfig, arp, and MS Internet Explorer hacking tools? I assure you, if someone knows how to use them or take advantage of them, could hurt a system a lot more than a proof of concept computer exploit.

    ps. If such law comes true, that some tools are classified as hacking tools and be illegal to posses them, (the law enforcement agencies will be able to use them freely by the way) could someone declare himself as a hacking computer software collector? Like the people who collect other Ã¢â‚¬Å“dangerousÃ¢â‚¬Â artifacts, like guns.

    Looking forward to read your comments.

  4. Robert says:

    …in the UK (and some European countries, including Germany, I believe), carrying a knife with you in public is a crime, regardless of intention.

    There is simply an assumption that if something could be used as weapon, it does not belong in certain domains.

    Where is the difference between that law and declaring that software that is capable of being disruptive/damaging/harmful should not be distributed? Does the German law ban the reading of the source code in a book, or does it ban the digital presence of the software / code on a PC? Is a knife banned in the kitchen, or on the street?

  5. Robert Dicks says:

    Well it looks like I could be facing a spell behind bars if such laws were EU wide. I posses hacking tools which I use to probe for holes in my webserver

    So guilty as charged see you in 10 years time unless of course I only serve a few months for good behaviourÃ¢â‚¬Â¦.

  6. G. Fragkos says:

    It not illegal to carry a knife with in the UK if the blade is less than 5cm (about 2 icn). That is why i used the Swiss army knife example.

  7. Matt Davies says:

    Everyone with a Mac would be banged up immediately.

    There’s a port scan tool in the Network Utility application.

    Pick a cell, any cell.

  8. Leticia says:

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  9. Chaedong says:

    hi sirmay i know how can i hack some pnoerss email idwithout using phising attacki hav attended to kryrion ethical hacking classesandi just need some procedure to hack a yahoo mail idor fbi swear i don’t misuse the infoi just want to know i’ll be thankful if u help me with all my hopesur’sgiri

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