Cases Paper Research the following topic: You have been asked to evaluate specific hacking cases and recommend penalties. Tell what other information, besides what is given below, you consider relevant and how your decision would depend on it.
Most of these are real cases. The unauthorized access in each case is illegal, and you may assume that the right person was caught. The law allows long jail sentences for some of these offenses. However, you do not have to use any existing law to determine the penalty. Decide what you think is reasonable and explain your reasons.
A 17-year old was charged with hacking the Los Angeles Police Department’s anti-drug Web page and putting pro-drug slogans and images on the site. He admitted to hacking Web sites of the U.S. Commerce Dept. and an Internet security firm.
A 28-year-old college student was charged with breaking into military and government computers, gaining control of a NASA system, and interrupting business at an Internet service provider. He did not disrupt national defense or meddle with satellite controls.
A 16-year-old boy broke into 12 Defense Department computers. He did not destroy any files. It appeared he looked around at various directories, then exited.
A 16-year-old boy hacked into computers that controlled communications for a local airport, rendering the system unusable for six hours. The airport used a backup radio system; flights were delayed but there were no mishaps.
