The UK made noise across the Internet this week when it moved to outlaw tools used by hackers. The fear in the software community world wide is that sales of their legitimate software in the UK will suffer if the blocks have tangential effects.
How would a block of hackers, which sounds perfectly reasonable and needed at first glance, affect legitimate software programmers? By banning legitimate software that a hacker may use as part of their nefarious scheme. One example used in the story was dual use software like nmap or a password recovery tool, both of which are designed for good things, but can be used for bad deeds by hackers.
The UK is not the first country to address issues surrounding the internet. Germany has enacted similar anti hacking laws, and both China and Australia have begun to make noises about censoring the internet. The issue with an Internet controlled by Net Nannies is that of access to knowledge and tools. Banning the hackers and restricting the Internet will have serious and negative repercussions for how the Internet is used by all of us.
A better approach would be Internet education. Teach the end user how to avoid falling into common social engineering traps set by hackers, and how to operate a computer or network without putting themselves at risk. This includes installing free or low cost virus protection software, even on a Mac, and changing your habits when it comes to doling out personal information and opening email. In the end, we should be responsible for our own privacy and safety online, and not rely on a government to do it for us.
