Institute Fellow Leo Reyzin Weighs in on Hacking Ethics
Institute Fellow and Professor of Computer Science Leo Reyzin shared his perspective with The Christian Science Monitor regarding the recent hacking on Netflix and Marvel Twitter accounts by OurMine, a hacking group that benefits from providing commercial services to individuals and corporates on network security.
As an expert in cryptography, Professor Reyzin provided two schools of thought regarding hacking ethics. Since certain hacking activities will call attention to information system protection, weighing the pros and cons of the hack as a utilitarian point of view, as Prof Reyzin mentioned, was adaptable. However, according to Reyzin, regardless if something is deemed “white hat” hacking to ensure security or “black hat” hacking to gain notoriety, the hacking itself would be considered deontologically unethical.
When OurMine hacks a site or account, they post “we are just testing your security” with a link to their website. The group argues that their goal is to alert internet users to security these security issues, but they do leave sites vulnerable, instead of notifying account holders first.
Cyber security has been increasingly examined, improved and challenged in the past years, due to growing network vulnerability that comes with unprecedented connectivity levels. At BU, the Hariri Institute for Computing, Center for Reliable Information Systems and Cyber Security, and BU Security Group continue to bring together security experts to ensure the security and trustworthiness of computing environments.