1. Welcome Guest! In order to create a new topic or reply to an existing one, you must register first. It is easy and free. Click here to sign up now!.
    Dismiss Notice

Trying to protect yourself from Heartbleed could land you in jail

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 11, 2014.

  1. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Messages:
    10,617
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Operating System:
    Windows 10
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD
    CPU:
    AMD Phenom II X6 1090T-Thuban 3.2GHz
    Memory:
    Crucial-DDR3 SDRAM 1333-8GB
    Hard Drive:
    WD Caviar Black SE HDD 640 GB - WD Caviar Black SE HDD 500 GB
    Graphics Card:
    Sapphire Radeon HD-7870 2GB
    Power Supply:
    CORSAIR CMPSU-750W
    This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.....

    The recently uncovered massive Heartbleed vulnerability affecting 66% of websites is currently being patched by many companies, but several online services already offer users the means to test whether a website is still affected by the Heartbleed vulnerability. However, checking to see whether a site uses flawed OpenSSL protocol is actually in violation of Internet laws and could land users in jail, at least theoretically, The Register reports.


    According to the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the U.K. Computer Misuse Act, it is illegal to test the security of third-party websites without their permission. Therefore, Heartbleed testing, and any other security checks on a website such as the ones performed by security researchers, could be punished with jail time if such laws were actually enforced.

    “I would say [checking for Heartbleed] would certainly contravene the Computer Misuse Act in the UK,” computer security researcher David Litchfield said on Twitter. “This is no different than say testing to see if a site is vulnerable to SQL injection. It’s not legal without permission.”

    “Under UK law you could argue running scans is just about criminal,” Percy Crow Davis & Co IT lawyer Dai Davis told the publication. “It’s not in the spirit of the law but the Computer Misuse Act is badly written.”

    Those who want to know whether the sites they visit are secure have various online options to check for Heartbleed — if they don’t mind breaking the law — including a handy Chrome plugin.


    http://news.yahoo.com/trying-protect-yourself-heartbleed-could-land-jail-150922215.html
     

Share This Page