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OWNING "hacker tools" illegal in Germany as of TODAY (jail & fines for everyone)

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f0dder:
If you listen to security experts, much of "hacking" (which should be cracking, BTW) is just social engineering. Does that mean it will now be illegal to own a dictionary?
-tinjaw (July 07, 2007, 01:21 PM)
--- End quote ---
No, breaking into computers==hacking, breaking copyright protection schemes== cracking.

Hacking isn't "writing code" anymore, except in the "I wrote a quick hack" sense, or "that's a pretty darn ugly hack".

tinjaw:
Then the meaning has changed over the years. Hacking means doing something clever. Cracking means breaking into something. At least that is what my generation used as definitions.

mitzevo:
in the world of hacking (and people who take a stab at it..), it's called cracking.. (malicious hacking).. well the people who take a stab call it hacking any way, lol..

i don't know why they can't just call it "malicious hacking" any ways.. :o

just like fodder said, every one and there dog is "hacking" things these days.. css hacks, code hacking, spade hacking, hacking hacking, hack here hack there.

i think hackers get a bit upset and try to use the term cracker to show the bad side of hacking.. this is all very well in the hacking/netsec scene.. but in the software cracking/reversing scene a cracker is some one who cracks software which has nothing to do with hacking networks, pbx's, ipods or css (not that css is related to any real hacking..)

hacking and cracking is used interchangeably..

f0dder:
In my experience, the real hackers call it hacking - only the wannabe /. crowd and a few people who have used ready-made exploits call that sort of activity "cracking". Ah yes, and some of the *u*x crows hangs on to the old definition of "hacking" as well.

iphigenie:
I am usually against all the stupid laws that prevent reverse engineering etc.

But I am not sure it is a right for everyone to have these tools on their pc and be able to point them at any machine on the net that isn't theirs. I certainly think it should be illegal for someone to have people's credit card numbers on their machines with no good reason to have them! And it should be punishable to point a buffer overflow, password cracker etc. to someone else's machines. Even if you didnt get in and didnt destroy anything.

I think it's fine for people to own these tools and point them at machines and systems they own, their employers own (if their job implies) or their clients - they are after all testing and debugging tools as well - but if they point it at my machines and get caught, it should be a crime.

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