January 21, 2024 at 03:15PM
A German court fined a programmer €3,000 for unauthorized access to a remote database server while investigating an IT problem for a client. The programmer found a significant data privacy issue, attempted to notify the software vendor, and was subsequently charged with hacking. The programmer plans to appeal the decision.
Based on the meeting notes, here are the key takeaways:
– A programmer, working as a freelance IT service provider, was charged by a German court with hacking and fined €3,000 for unauthorized access to external computer systems and spying on data.
– The programmer was initially hired by a client to resolve log generation issues with merchandise management software. However, while examining the software, the programmer discovered that it was connecting to a remote server containing a significant amount of data, including that of other customers, posing a data privacy issue.
– After disconnecting from the remote database, the programmer collaborated with a tech blogger to alert the software vendor to the cybersecurity and privacy issue. Despite this, the company reported the programmer to the police for unauthorized data access.
– The programmer extracted a plaintext password for a database connection from the management software’s executables, which led to the legal charges and fines under Section 202c of the German Criminal Code.
– Despite arguments that the programmer acted in the public’s interest and criticized the court’s views as outdated, the appeal is to be heard at a higher regional court in Aachen and could potentially set a legal precedent.
These key points outline the circumstances leading to the legal charges and the programmer’s decision to appeal the court’s decision.