EU Ministers Seek To Ban Creation of Hacking Tools

[Daniel]

"Justice Ministers across Europe want to make the creation of 'hacking tools' a criminal offense, but critics have hit back at the plans, saying that they are unworkable. Ministers from all 27 countries of the European Union met on June 9 to discuss European Commission proposals for a directive on attacks against information systems. But in addition to approving the Commission's text, the ministers extended the draft to include 'the production and making available of tools for committing offenses.' This is problematic, as much legal and legitimate software could be put to criminal use by hackers. The draft mentions 'malicious software designed to create botnets or unrightfully obtained computer passwords,' but goes no further in attempting to clarify what 'tools' might be subject to criminal sanctions."

Daniel Reviewed by Daniel on 15th Jun 2011. EU Ministers Seek To Ban Creation of Hacking Tools "Justice Ministers across Europe want to make the creation of 'hacking tools' a criminal offense, but critics have hit back at the plans, saying that they are unworkable. Ministers from all 27 countries of the European Union met on June 9 to discuss European Commission proposals for a directive on attacks against information systems. But in addition to approving the Commission's text, the ministers extended the draft to include 'the production and making available of tools for committing Rating: 5

[CyberAff]

oooo so that was their decision ?! hmm.. who gonna pwnd? EU Ministers or EU Hackers? lol

[Daniel]

They mean text editors (as opposed to word processors), compilers, interpreters, etc. Pretty much anything with a command line.