They shouldn't have pulled it off the air. There were no laws broken. If you give someone a coat hanger and ask someone to show you they can get into your car is that breaking the law? Or if you get someone to pick a lot and gain access to your own building with your permission should this person be charged for illegal entry?

Dictionary.com's definition of hacking is:

To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization.

Now i dont know if the law uses this same definition but Lamo did have authorization to do this from NBC. They have the right to test the security of their own servers and are under no obligation to use a professional company to do so. Instead they used the intellect of a single 21 year old.

The lawyers, well .. it would be stupid of NBC to show the world they are vulnerable. But what people need to realize is that the more you make it public, the more people will do to fix it. NBC would be smart to take a large step towards using media to greaten network security.

M4rtin

martin (at) codephobia (dot) com [email concealed]

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/articles/595/16383#16383