Questions tagged [hacking]

Non-normative tag for questions relating to the use of information technology, typically in unintended manners.

While other uses of the word hacker exist that are related to computer security, such as referring to someone with an advanced understanding of computers and computer networks, they are rarely used in mainstream context. They are subject to the longstanding hacker definition controversy about the term's true meaning. In this controversy, the term hacker is reclaimed by computer programmers who argue that someone who breaks into computers, whether computer criminal (black hats) or computer security expert (white hats), is more appropriately called a cracker instead. Some white hat hackers claim that they also deserve the title hacker, and that only black hats should be called "crackers".

Canonical answers:

132 questions
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Clean Hands doctrine and Plausible Deniability

There is a question on the Superuser forum wherein a bad actor is trying to trick someone into connecting to an access point, presumably so they can sniff information. They are doing this by setting up an access point with a very similar name to…
davidgo
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Is it legal to hack my wifi hotspot's password?

I'm gonna explain it exactly: Parents divorced, I have a laptop from mom, and a smartphone from my father (with subscription contract), with internet access, and hotspot capable. My question is: If i make hotspot on the phone (from my father), to…
Daniel
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Legality of Avast Vulnerability Scanning on Networks

I observed behavior from certain Avast security products, where the products will scan other computers/devices in an internal network for security vulnerabilities. I noticed that the behavior from this was very similar to actual intrusion attempts,…
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Is a "drive-by-download" site liable for their content

There was an incident where forbes.com was delivering viruses through Javascript exploits found in their ads. This happened just by clicking a link (before you can "agree" to anything). Are they liable under anti-hacking regulations? What about ad…
hack
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Any reason not to out someone for having an Ashley Madison account?

Suppose I torrent the file and see the name and address of my neighbor associated with an Ashley Madison account. Suppose he is a somewhat prominent business owner or local politician. Can I be sued for posting this information somewhere online?
A.S.
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Posting leaked data

Is it legal to publicly share leaked data (for example, twitter.com user emails, names, and passwords)?
John J
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Legal implications of using corporate infrastruture in cyber attacks against Russia

Recently, our data centers have been migrated from Ukraine to central Europe. Instead of shutting down, we intend to dedicate the infrastructure to launching cyber attacks against Russian state services and state-related businesses. In particular,…
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Is it illegal to hack twitter accounts and websites belonging to ISIS?

In particular, ISIS twitter accounts, networks, and propaganda sites. Would the US government condone such cybercrime? Would they even encourage people to try? I have heard stories of ISIS defaming western websites, and I am more than confident…
Script Kitty
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how much would a hacker be fined for using others online money?

how much would a hacker be fined for using others online money? (according to international law) Let's say for using $10,000, $1,000, $100, or $10.
w4j3d
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Is selling IOS game hacks illegal through some platform?

so basically we have a website and we sell monthly subscriptions. The website has a lot of different game hacks and some tutorials for hacking. So, the question is, is this completely illegal? because we are not selling hacks directly, instead we…
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Can I get in trouble for someone else using my code for bad?

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this but oh well. I wrote some proof of concept code that can do stuff to computers on my school network if the user has admin privileges. If I publish this on Github and someone finds it and uses it to…
Elijah
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Are phone spying apps illegal?

If someone sent a false picture message that contained a hidden app that allowed them to monitor calls,messages,photos etc... Are there any privacy laws being broken?This question applies only to the state of California.
user5434678
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