Hackers face life imprisonment under 'Anti-Terrorism' Act

Security Focus ^ | Sep 23 2001 | Kevin Poulsen

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Justice Department proposal classifies most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.

Hackers, virus-writers and web site defacers would face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under legislation proposed by the Bush Administration that would classify most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.

The Justice Department is urging Congress to quickly approve its Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), a twenty-five page proposal that would expand the government's legal powers to conduct electronic surveillance, access business records, and detain suspected terrorists.

The proposal defines a list of "Federal terrorism offenses" that are subject to special treatment under law. The offenses include assassination of public officials, violence at international airports, some bombings and homicides, and politically-motivated manslaughter or torture.

Most of the terrorism offenses are violent crimes, or crimes involving chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. But the list also includes the provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that make it illegal to crack a computer for the purpose of obtaining anything of value, or to deliberately cause damage. Likewise, launching a malicious program that harms a system, like a virus, or making an extortionate threat to damage a computer are included in the definition of terrorism.

To date no terrorists are known to have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But several recent hacker cases would have qualified as "Federal terrorism offenses" under the Justice Department proposal, including the conviction of Patrick Gregory, a prolific web site defacer who called himself "MostHateD"; Kevin Mitnick, who plead guilty to penetrating corporate networks and downloading proprietary software; Jonathan "Gatsby" Bosanac, who received 18-months in custody for cracking telephone company computers; and Eric Burns, the Shoreline, Washington hacker who scrawled "Crystal, I love you" on a United States Information Agency web site in 1999. The 19-year-old was reportedly trying to impress a classmate with whom he was infatuated.

The Justice Department submitted the ATA to Congress late last week as a response to the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that killed some 7,000 people.

As a "Federal terrorism offense," the five year statute of limitations for hacking would be abolished retroactively -- allowing computer crimes committed decades ago to be prosecuted today -- and the maximum prison term for a single conviction would be upped to life imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal justice system

Those convicted of providing "advice or assistance" to cyber crooks, or harboring or concealing a computer intruder, would face the same legal repercussions as an intruder. Computer intrusion would also become a predicate offense for the RICO statutes.

DNA samples would be collected from hackers upon conviction, and retroactively from those currently in custody or under federal supervision. The samples would go into the federal database that currently catalogs murderers and kidnappers.

Civil liberties groups have criticized the ATA for its dramatic expansion of surveillance authority, and other law enforcement powers.

But Attorney General John Ashcroft urged swift adoption of the measure Monday.

Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft defended the proposal's definition of terrorism. "I don't believe that our definition of terrorism is so broad," said Ashcroft. "It is broad enough to include things like assaults on computers, and assaults designed to change the purpose of government."

The Act is scheduled for mark-up by the committee Tuesday morning.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Does Brian K. West deserve "the most severe punishment possible?"

The danger here is that people who know nothing about computers consider all programming tools and activities to be "hacking."

These laws will be created and administered by technological retards. Doesn't that scare you?

[Pearls Before Swine]

Does anyone remember the PBS special "Death of a Princess" where a young Saudi women was beheaded because of a love affair?

Maybe we'll see some fantasy movie soon titled "Death of a Hacker."

[The Duke]

If hackers are to face life in prison then I guess that means that spammers will be drawn and quartered???

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If hackers are to face life in prison then I guess that means that spammers will be drawn and quartered???

I don't know about that, but part of what it means is anybody who does web programming could be defined as a hacker by the kind of technological retards we have in the legislature and justice department.

[jackbill]

Hackers, virus-writers and web site defacers would face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under legislation proposed by the Bush Administration that would classify most computer crimes as acts of terrorism.

Frankly, I'd use the death penalty on the bastards.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I guess that might include Bill Gates.

Paul C. Jesup

[SubSailor]

West "is just a guy who found a flaw and tried to fix it," as cryptography expert Bruce Schneier puts it. Even if he poked around a bit, these defenders say, he shouldn't be treated like a criminal. "The punishment doesn't fit the crime," Schneier says.

So, say you accidentally leave the door to your house unlocked and the guy across the street comes over to borrow your weedwhacker while you're not home. He knocks on the door and nobody answers. He gives the doorhandle a twist and notices it's unlocked. "Hmmm," he says to himself, "I wonder what ol' E. Pluribus Unum keeps in his underwear drawer?" So, he walks right in and starts snooping around. Shouldn't he have stayed out of the house?

[Liberal Classic]

Wait just a moment. Many convicted murderer do not even receive life in prison. Defacing a website is similar to vandalism. Using an exploit to get computer codes, or other propriety data is form of theft. Let's have some sense of proportion, and recognise that computer intrusion is a form of trespassing, not tantamount to murder.

[sten]

have you all lost your nut?

We are talking about hackers, not murders or rapists. Noone gets hurt. Noone gets killed. Sheesh, even Manson comes up for parole once a decade. But not hackers?!

If they are really serious about imprisoning people for causing undue stress, then they should go straight to Redmond and knock on Bill's door. After all, without MS Windows, 99% of the virus software wouldn't work.

BTW, email attachments are not viruses. They are just programs that someone is stupid enough to run without knowing its effects.

[steenkeenbadges]

"Go after the guys who didn't do it. Makes sense to me."

When you play, you pay. It's kinda like STD's. It was fun til payback time.

Life just isn't fair, is it kids?

[steenkeenbadges]

"Let's have some sense of proportion, and recognise that computer intrusion is a form of trespassing, not tantamount to murder."

The shape of the universe has changed, and proportion along with it. We've needed a good excuse to stop this crap and I personally don't mind giving a "grow up" lesson to our bratty, perpetual adolescent hacker population now that the destiny of the free world is on the line.

[Servant of the Nine]

I'm wondering how long after this gets passed until Bill Gates and others try to get copyright infringement violators considered for it.

Bill Gates will have too much to worry about. Like everyone else that has been at this from the beginning, he has no hope of defending against a "Hacking" indictment. After Dollar Bill plea bargains a suspended sentence and lifetime parole he'll do as he is told about hiding a back door in all operting systems, or anything else they want. Activate your microphone and/or webcam without you knowing it? of course. If no one knows they can do it, they won't need a court order.

So9

[SubSailor]

Yeah, same goes for the punks who keeping puttin' dents in my mailbox with a baseball bat!

[Poohbah]

Uh-huh. And if they manage to trash a medical monitoring system while engaged in their hack exploits, it CAN turn into murder pretty easily.

[Servant of the Nine]

So, say you accidentally leave the door to your house unlocked and the guy across the street comes over to borrow your weedwhacker while you're not home

If your neighbor does that, it is simple trespass, a misdemeanor. It sure isn't life without parole.

So9

[Fred25]

and assaults designed to change the purpose of government."

What does this mean?

LOL! That’s sort of an old 1950s anti-Commie term.

[Liberal Classic]

The shape of the universe has changed, and proportion along with it.

No, it hasn't. If I were to purposefully tamper with someone's auto, say deliberately disable the brakes and the owner of the automobile is killed in the ensuing crash, then that is murder. The same goes with a computer system. Let's say I use my computer to break into some company and purposefully alter the control mechanism of heavy machinery leading to someone's death, sure.

But the act of using a computer to wrongfully intrude into someone else's computer, is trespassing not murder. Wrongfully intruding and copying data, is trespassing and theft.

Sorry, but it's my opinion you are over-reacting.

[frodolives]

YEEEEEOWCH (AT #13)! It's EX POST FACTO. Written right there. Read that Consitution again. Sounds like the Justice Department could use that exercize, too.

[sten]

If this 'law' were to come into existence, a case could be made that anyone transmitting a virus would also be quilty.

Considering the response so far, most of you would be up on charges in no time. You could easily transmit a virus by simply browsing a webpage. If you are running Windows, there are ways to make data *look* like it came from your machine, thereby framing you.

How's that for a wake up call, you techno-moron.

[Servant of the Nine]

Uh-huh. And if they manage to trash a medical monitoring system while engaged in their hack exploits, it CAN turn into murder pretty easily.

That's right, it turns into murder and should be prosecuted as murder, not by giving life without parole for hacking.

The proposed law is so broad that anyone who has ever looked at a copy of "2600" on the newstand could be convicted if they want to.

So9