Case Project 12-2: Exploring Moral and Legal Issues

After conducting research for Case Project 12-1, you have gathered a lot of background about the release of information on hashing algorithms. Articles on vulnerabilities of SHA-1, MD4, and MD5 abound. The proliferation of programs for breaking DVD encryption codes and the recent imprisonment of an attacker who broke Japans encryption method for blocking certain images from pornographic movies have raised many questions on whats moral or legal in releasing information about hashing algorithms.

Quiz Question

a. Based on this information, write a one- to two-page report addressing moral and legal issues of releasing software or code for breaking these algorithms. Your paper should also answer these questions:

1. Should people who are able to break a hashing algorithm be allowed to post their findings on the Internet?

2. Do you think the reporters of the DVD (DeCSS) crack were exercising their First Amendment rights when including the source code for breaking the DVD encryption key in an article? What about displaying the source code on a T-shirt?

3. As a security professional, do you think you have to abide by a higher standard when sharing or disseminating source code that breaks hashing algorithms? Explain.