Just when to invoke national security or freedom of expression and use of technology continues to be tested. Three students at MIT had planned to give a talk at the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas yesterday on how they hacked into Boston's subway system to issue fake fare cards. But the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority filed a lawsuit to stop the students from presenting their findings. The authority argued that the students violated a federal law and that their fare card constituted a computer used by a government agency to protect the American public. The suit most certainly will "rekindle a debate about how to properly disclose security vulnerabilities, and whether laws against computer crimes trump the First Amendment," according to a Wall Street Journal blog.
COMMENTS
Computer security in this country is at the very most part has to many holes. We talk about national security in law enforcement. Well even to an idiot its easy to gain access to forms of info on any site are network. And people wonder how anything from stealing info and understanding how to construct a bomb are anything else a terrorist are a nut may need to harm someone. Some cities should take a hard look at the public sectors where computers are used free for public use. like library and other stores that charge money for internet use. are the use of domain names so others can act as someone else by stealing. and there is a lot of that going on. so the Government should take a long look and who know maybe someone will wake up.
John Donaldson Jr 04/06/09 09:24 am ET