National: Here’s how the Justice Department wants to befriend ethical hackers – The Washington Post
The Justice Department’s relationship with the cybersecurity research community has historically been tempestuous, but Leonard Bailey is on a mission to improve it. That’s what brings him here, to the BSides cybersecurity conference. The head of the cybersecurity unit of DOJ’s computer crimes division is extending an open invitation today to ethical hackers to air some grievances and offer policy advice, in a talk called: “Let’s Hear from the Hackers: What Should DOJ do Next?” Bailey wants to ensure hackers are willing to work with government on improving cybersecurity — instead of staying away because they’re suspicious of government. “It’s about figuring out how to make sure that their ability to help us improve [the nation’s] cybersecurity is not taken off the playing field,” Bailey tells me. “They have a valuable resource and they can be helping everyone.” This marks a drastic change — in terms of both outreach and attitude — from previous years. Tensions have soared as ethical hackers accused DOJ of being too quick to prosecute them for benign research aimed at improving cybersecurity — and of not being transparent enough about the rules for what constitutes a digital crime.
