The United States Department of Justice Will no Longer Prosecute Ethical Hackers

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(ISC)² Blog

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week it will not bring charges under federal hacking laws against security researchers and ethical hackers who act in good faith. This decision stems from a landmark 2021 ruling where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a police officer who was charged with accepting a kickback for accessing the database as a serving police officer, and another for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA, became law in 1986 and is widely criticized as outdated. The federal law dictates what constitutes computer hacking, specifically “unauthorized” access to a…