[internetworkers] NCSU Police Blotter Case
Mark Turner
markt at siteseers.net
Thu Jul 8 09:47:31 EDT 2004
Do any of you remember the recent news story about the N.C. State Police
Blotter website being updated with humorous entries by Wolf Web
visitors? I found out today that the kids who pulled this prank are now
facing felony charges and jail time.
I'm a law and order kind of guy, having worked with my city's
Crimestoppers group for over a year. I have also provided computer
security services for a decade. In essence, I've been on both sides of
the fence.
What the kids did is technically unlawful, but certainly not worthy of
felony charges. The police should be grateful the kids showed them how
their password was being broadcast to the world.
The kids didn't steal passwords. They didn't steal credit cards. They
didn't compromise any other machines. They didn't even compromise the
blotter server, other than the blotter app itself. What these kids did
is akin to painting outside of the Free Expression Tunnel. Its a shame
that these young people may be punished so severely for what is
essentially a victimless crime.
So those are my thoughts. What are your thoughts? What should be the
appropriate response? How you think the NCSU Police should handle this case?
Here are some links for background:
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http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nc/wake/story/1362082p-7485015c.html
http://pwnt.org/paypal.html
http://www.markturner.net/?q=node/view/726
--
Mark Turner
Siteseers Inc.
919.277.0123 x3100
SIP:3100 at pbx.siteseers.com
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