Google and Microsoft ask Georgia governor to veto ‘hack back’ bill
Google and Microsoft are asking Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to veto a controversial bill that would criminalize “unauthorized computer access” and potentially allow companies to conduct offensive hacking operations. The Georgia General Assembly passed the bill in late March and sent it over to Deal, who has 40 days to sign it. The legislation has been met with outcries from the security researcher community. Critics say it would put a chilling effect on legitimate cybersecurity research, in which ethical hackers find and report vulnerabilities in organizations’ networks. But in a in a letter dated April 16, representatives from Microsoft and Google focus on one of the bill’s provisions exempting “active defense measures that are designed to prevent or detect unauthorized computer access.” The companies say that this exemption gives companies broad authority to “hack back” if said hacking is deemed to be for the sake of cybersecurity. “On its face, this provision broadly authorizes the hacking of […]
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