Thanks to hacker take downs of well known and massive companies like Sony Pictures, those hackers are getting a bigger profile than even they could have imagined. The hacker groups that have repeatedly attacked the PSN and Xbox Live as well as video game services like Twitch are probably enjoying the fact that almost everyone knows their names. The downside of having as big a profile as these hackers now own is that the federal government is also starting to take quite a bit of interest in them.
A new report is surfacing that the profile has become so big that the President of the United States will actually announce a new initiative that would make it illegal to either click a link or spread information that was attained illegally through hacking. In particular, the new law would make it a felony to access unauthorized information even it that information has been posted on a public website.
The law also makes it a felony to traffic in information such as passwords and trafficking will now include posting a link. Basically, the new law would basically upgrade hacking to a kind of “racketeering” offense. This means that people who had nothing to do with the initial hack will be looked at as though they are hackers if they touch the information the hackers have made available.
The point of this kind of a law is rather obvious. The government is still having a heck of a time actually finding and shutting down the hackers who commit the initial crime. By making spreading or accessing the information they get illegal, the government is attempting to make it so that if there is a hack, there isn’t any benefit to be gained from what they get. Some Law and Order types will claim this is the only sure fire way to stop people like Lizard Squad. The problem is that the Internet would become a kind of police state if this bill were to become law and that’s never a good thing.