The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
"Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society said a change in the interpretation of the CFAA could have a wide range of effects, not just on security research but also on other activities. Read more about Supreme Court to Review CFAA for First Time
"But not all court cases are just about getting a jury verdict. “I think it’s a sincere attempt to use the C.F.A.A. in a novel way,” said Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. “But I think it’s partially a P.R. exercise, in that they’re calling out NSO and saying they won’t let them use vulnerabilities to attack users.”" Read more about The Week in Tech: WhatsApp’s Spyware Fight Is at Least Good P.R.
"But WhatsApp's lawsuit doesn't make any mention of prior notice to NSO to stop abusing its services or hacking its users. "I don’t see anything that says they sent a case and desist or attempted to block them," says Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society. "Absent more, they won’t be able to hook the CFAA violation on the terms of service."" Read more about WhatsApp's Case Against NSO Group Hinges on a Tricky Legal Argument
"“CFAA is a ridiculously broad statute or, at least it has been interpreted that way by many courts,” Jeffrey Vagle, an affiliate scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Internet and Society, told me. “It was written in a completely different era with respect to how we use computers. It was not a well-thought-out law, and that’s come back to haunt us.”" Read more about The Cybersecurity 202: Security experts irked U.S. prosecutors used anti-hacking law to nab Julian Assange
"Is one failed attempt to crack a password really enough to embroil Assange in a felony hacking case? "For the CFAA, unfortunately yes," says Jeffrey Vagle, a former University of Pennsylvania law professor and current affiliate scholar at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. He points to a long history of using the overly expansive wording of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to hit hackers accused of even trivial acts with serious charges. "The fact that his involvement is de minimus isn't enough to stop an indictment, because the CFAA is just so broad."" Read more about Breaking Down the Hacking Case Against Julian Assange
"Their paper considers a broad view of the legal definition of hacking under the CFAA, applying it even to previous work done by one of the co-authors, Yoshi Kohno. Kohno’s research, which coded DNA to hack a DNA sequencing machine could be viewed as hacking under the law, says co-author Ryan Calo. Read more about A legal question for the AI age: Is tricking a robot the same thing as hacking it?
"Andrea Matwyshyn, a professor of law and computer science at Northeastern University, said that unless the owner or operator of a system specifically authorizes an attempt to guess a password, anyone who does so and enters that system could be charged under the CFAA. It wouldn't matter whether the password was obtained through insider knowledge or via a brute force attack, she said." Read more about Did Wikileaks Commit A Crime When It 'Guessed' PutinTrump.org's Password?
"Scalia's “sentiment of government surveillance did not necessarily extend to private companies,” Omer Tene, vice president of research and education, International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), told SCMagazine.com.
In cases of a locked jury, ruling made by previous courts would be hold. “It's quite possible that the Spokeo might come out 4/4 without Scalia,” said Hayes. Read more about Scalia's privacy and cyber legacy -- and what's next?
"Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, said accessing Halbach's wireless account is possibly a violation of the CFAA. “The short answer is yes, it could be,” she told the Daily Dot in an email, though she says she has not yet watched Making a Murderer." Read more about The federal crime nobody talks about in 'Making a Murderer'
"The dream of a free and open Internet is slowly being killed by overregulation, censorship and bad laws that don't stop the right people, a top computer crime defense lawyer says. The annual Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas kicked off Wednesday with a keynote address from Jennifer Granick, director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Read more about Black Hat Keynote Speaker Says Dream of Internet Freedom Is Dying
