Hackers are 'Terrorists' Under Ashcroft's New Act

Carlos writes "Most computer crimes are considered acts of terrorism under John Ashcroft's proposed 'Anti-Terrorism Act,' according to this story on SecurityFocus. The Act would abolish the statute of limitations for computer crime, retroactively, force convicted hackers to give the government DNA samples for a special federal database, and increase the maximum sentence for computer intrusion to life in prison. Harboring or providing advice to a hacker would be terrorism as well. This is on top of the expanded surveillance powers already reported on. The bill could be passed as early as this week. I feel safer already."

oh, crap...

[hugg]

Damn, we /.'ed the securityfocus server... that's a DOS attack, isn't it?

Quick, smash your DSL modems, clear your logs, and run for the hills before the Feds arrive!

hmmm

[the_other_one]

Microsoft regularly gives advice to hackers with this thing called the Knowlege Base.

They even have a program (IIS) that aids hackers in break in attempts.

Their new advertisement [theregister.co.uk] advocates the destruction of buildings.

This is clearly one of the worst terror organizations

The US and it's allies must take action

Re:Somebody has to say it, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, if they weren't guilty, they wouldn't be suspects, now would they?

Re:def con

[Anonymous Coward]

The FBI will arrest America's best and brightest, crippling high-tech innovation.

USA harbors terrorists!

[www.sorehands.com]

Lets see, Kevin Mitnick is a hacker, a hacker is a terrorist, Mitnick is in the USA = USA harbors terrorists. The USA did not execute him on site.

Is everone infected with Code Red a terrorist?

Silly huh? Well, people thought it was silly to say that the attack would be used as an excuse to abridge our rights further.

Re:Somebody has to say it, but...

[Alan]

... so the entire IIS team will be in the slammer RSN huh? :)

Re:Six degrees of separation.

[dillon_rinker]

Actually, criminal statutes have to be pretty explicit. You can't convict someone of a crime unless it's on the books. If goose-whacking is a crime, and you try but fail to whack a goose, they can't convict you of attempted goose-whacking, because there's no law against attempted goose-whacking. If you talk to people about your plans to whack a goose, they can't convict you of conspiracy to commit goose-whacking because there's no law against conspiring to goose-whack.

Naturally, it takes a politically-connected DA about a month to remedy the situation, particularly if goose-whackers are a mostly misunderstood minority...

Re:My DNA?

[ttyRazor]

So they can get your DNA off of that public anonymous terminal keyboard you used to used, duh. Be sure to use rubber gloves and scrape dead skin off like in Gattica from now on.

Does that include ... ?

[Lumpish Scholar]

Anyone making life easier for a "hacker" (cracker) could be sentenced to life without parole?

Bill Gates had better pack his bags now! ("... the most cigarettes.")

Re:Ouch!

[fobbman]

Husband: No, it wasn't an affair, per se. I was actually conducting some Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Assesments on her.

Boy, was she vulnerable! Glad I was able to help her out, really!

Re:Ouch!

[kindbud]

I conduct Penetration Testing and Vulnerability assesments for a living.

That's why John Ashcroft will be needing a DNA sample from you.

Re:So murder is less of an offense than hacking?

[statusbar]

Yes, murder is less of an offense than hacking.

Hacking a military site can affect THOUSANDS of lives and national security.

--jeff

security through imprisonment.

[_ph1ux_]

John Ashcroft announced today that the NSA has devised a fool proof deterance to E-terrorism. The new method is called Security-Through-Imprisonment, or STI.

The premise of STI is that civilian and military systems dont need to be secured, but instead laws need to be put in place that will require life sentances for so much as a failed telnet login attempt.

In response to our questions Ashcroft had the following statement: "Everyone is aware that securing Microsoft products is as futile as the war-on-drugs(TM), so we decided that rather than attempting to fix the systems - we will just send these E-Terrorists to prison for life for their crimes against Freedom(R). It is important for us to protect-our-children's(TM - H. Clinton) future in the wake of this terrible tragedy. Our new policy is called "If you cant do the right thing, then just do something"

Re:Somebody has to say it, but...

[1010011010]

I suppose I could go to jail now over that stupid cuecat stuff [flyingbuttmonkeys.com].

Sigh.

Re:Now hang on just a sec...

[Surak]

I don't mind increase survelance powers in order to fight terrorism. However, scrawling "I love you Crystal" or some such on some web page is not terrorism.

I've said this before, but it's worth repeating. The laws that apply in the real world should apply in the cyber world.

Defacing a web face is the same as spraying some grafitti on a wall. Stealing credit card numbers or private information is the same as theft. Bringing down a government web site is sabotage. These should be dealt with the same as they are in the real world.

Defacing a web site is vandalism, and therefore should be treated as a misdemeanor. Stealing credit card numbers or private information would be a misdemeanor or a felony depending on how much was stolen and how much it's worth. Sabotage, deliberate, willful destruction of government property, including websites, *is* terrorism and should be dealt with as such.

I don't see why this is so frickin' hard. :-)

Heroes of peace and freedom in year 2061 schools..

[Anonymous Coward]

History describes the years around 2000 C.E. to be the climax of american military and cultural terrorism before its inevitable decline.

"The proles comprising the largest portion of the population were lied to extensively by their aristocracy, which during the 250 years of its existence had brokered its insatiable appetite for power through military land grabs, treacherously broken treaties, and financial and paramilitary operations, continuing through the years leading up to 2010 when, in response to the undeniable holocaust being perpetrated by some of their rulers as well as a great spiritual awakening, the middle classes began to convert to Hinduism, Sufic Islam, Buddhism [with a high rates of

Soka Gakkai practice among nonwhites], and Bahai, as well as a mass return to the quietly devout christianity which settled parts of north america.

It was only after the nihilist-capitalist government was itself reformed by the rising tide of tens of millions of muslim pacifists [who, taking the nonviolent resistance doctrines practiced by Gandhi and MLK, successfully leveraged their solidarity to bring the society to a halt, forcing it to re-evaluate its truculent foreign policies] that any evidence pertaining to who was informed and involved in the late-2001 attack on several locations essential to the operation of the military-industrial regime then in power could be unearthed."

"In view of the distortion and suppression of facts practiced by all governments during their periodic acts of violence against humanity, some began to speculate that the incredible secrecy and ease with which the attacks were planned and carried out could possibly be attributed to very delicately placed double agents in key resistance cells operating across the north american continent. Through this infiltration, hard-line paramilitary extremists throughout the US Federal Establishment and other world governments might have been able to subvert the chain of communication between those abroad desperately trying to have their voices heard and all of our human brothers and sisters fighting for justice and independence, trying to slow the deadly Imperialist Juggernaut from the inside, through the still nominally democratic structures available there. It's possible that many of those trying to effect nonviolent change in America were gradually, falsely led to believe that their mission had become one of dramatic force, and not the peace preached by Mohmed, the Prophet of Allah."

"As a growing number of americans began to feel that there was a darker side of their rulers' international leanings, those whose power and wealth lay in perpetuating that dark side began to fear exposure. Thus, as some claimed happened with the invasion of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, it also became apparent that those who stood most to gain from an 'unexpected, devastating, and cowardly' attack were leaders of military powers and corporate regimes. While no evidence regarding whether government agents had prior knowledge of or other involvement with the impending attacks ever came to light, there were some who theorized that the subsequent spate of anti-terror abrogations of civil liberties were the goal of these unseen high-level elements. If historians can ever find evidence of whether these scenarios might be true, we would have to wonder at the kind of people would play games with the lives of thousands to protect their financial or nationalistic interests. It is almost certain that they were acting out of honestly-held convictions. Even thousands of years of recorded history have shown us few Monsters -- most human violence has in fact been committed by highly principled men and women who felt sure that what they were doing was best for their fellow beings."

Let us now all have a week of careful meditation on the pain and suffering endured during the Greatest Dark Age of history, before all humans learned to wish only the Peace of God upon each other. Once we have all passed a week thinking upon these matters, our class will resume for a discussion of how similar misunderstandings and applications of the now-debunked "greater good" system of pseudoethics were also being perpetrated, to various degrees of horror, by governments and organizations outside the former United States of America.