A question of ethics...

[jgreen45]

Hey guys, just wondering would it be ethically correct to crack a website that is hosting and (knowingly) distributing malware? Also how would the law stand on something like this? PLEASE don't delete this i'm not going to attempt it, i'm just wondering how everyone would stand on the subject .

[tremor77]

There are a lot of factors to weigh in here.. what is the country of origin for the site in question? who is behind this malware? in the world of malware there are some state sponsored and larger corporate/criminal entities often involved. The same with a lot of other criminal internet activity as I've suggested before, from my experience of being in that world... these are not people to be mucked with. For your own safety, just report the site.. http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/report_badware/ along with many other places you can report malware. If the site is a spoof or phishing attempt, or a dup of similar looking software... also report it to the company that it's mimicking, they can alert their user base and possibly take other actions.

Interesting side-note.. have you ever looked for a malware site or malware software user agreement or ToS? Laughably enough, some actually state that they are malware and that your download and usage of the malware implies your consent to using it, etc. etc..

Also, many sites that are serving malware are either hacked or will claim to have been hacked.. therefor, attacking that site may land YOU in legal hot water.. perhaps, YOU put that malware there?? The authorities may see it that way.

[neuromanta]

There are a lot of factors to weigh in here.. what is the country of origin for the site in question?

Why is the country of origin important? If the malware is harmful, does it matter where it came from? (not in a legal, but in an ethic manner - we all know that laws are in no relation with ethics and morals)

[Vulpine]

we all know that laws are in no relation with ethics and morals

I...umm... Sigh... The part of me that craves conflict thinks you're being serious. The rest of me is screaming "sarcasm".

[tremor77]

@neuromanta: Sorry I pretty much avoided the OP question on ethics entirely...... country of origin has no bearing regarding the ethics. I don't really deal in ethics. I deal in practicality and legality.. and ethics can suck my balls. What is and is not ethical can be variably stated by different people with great skills of persuasion. Anyone on HTS who knows my history, knows the hell one can go through when they've allowed themselves to be persuaded to pursue an agenda based on it being morally justified. Counteracting criminal activity with criminal activity, is.. criminal activity.

@irony: 12 years later I'm using the same argument used against me.

@vulpine: for a moment, pretend he was serious.. I want to read your response!!!!