Hacking on Hashbang.ca

Legal issues in computer security research

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 01:04:00 -0700

This Thursday, I gave a talk at AtlSecCon 2014. The weather threw a wrench in the organizers’ plans, but they managed to pull off a solid conference. Unfortunately, the talks weren’t recorded this year. The slides are posted on SpeakerDeck, and are embedded below the fold.

I also reprised this talk at NSLUG, and recorded audio, now posted on SoundCloud, and also embedded below the fold.

Finally: late last year, I wrote 3 posts exploring Canada’s computer crime laws (1, 2, 3) which were initial versions of work that eventually became two papers I submitted this semester for a directed studies course. If you were interested in those posts, I’ve embedded the final PDFs below. The talk is a condensed version of that work.

Exploring Canada's computer crime laws: Part 3

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 16:10:00 -0400

Since the exceptions in copyright law for encryption and security research don’t apply if you’re doing anything criminal, I next looked at the Criminal Code [PDF].

Exploring Canada's computer crime laws: Part 2

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 16:10:00 -0400

Since the exceptions in copyright law for encryption and security research don’t apply if you’re doing anything criminal, I next looked at the Criminal Code [PDF].

Exploring Canada's computer crime laws: Part 1

Mon, 04 Nov 2013 16:10:00 -0400

As someone with an interest in technology, security, and the legal issues surrounding them, I often watch relevant legal cases with interest. Typically, those cases come from the United States. The CFAA has been in the news frequently of late, and not always in a good light. I was pleased to see Zoe Lofgren’s proposed changes, which try to make the law less draconian.

This is typical for Canada – we often see more about American news on topics like this than Canadian. I realized that I really didn’t know what the law in Canada said about so-called computer crimes, although I’ve often wondered. A while back, I took an afternoon to do some reading. I was not happy when that afternoon ended. This is part one of a three-part series on what I found.

Book review: 'Coding Freedom' by Gabriella Coleman

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:35:00 -0400

I’ve just finished reading Gabriella Coleman’s new book “Coding Freedom: The ethics and aesthetics of hacking” (2013, Princeton University Press) which culminates over a decade of field research, in-depth interviews, observation, and participation in the hacker scene globally. In this case, “hacker” refers to the free/open-source software (FOSS) hacker, and in particular the Debian project.

Hacking is where craft and craftiness converge.