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Three MIT students are being taken to court by the Massachusetts
Bay Transportation Authority after receiving information about their plans to
disclose sensitive information about several security flaws in the
Charlie-Ticket and the CharlieCard systems.
Apparently, the students prepared a presentation with the
details of how to duplicate their actions, which was supposed to be released
during a computer conference held in Las Vegas.
They are accused of offering free subway rides for free to a significant number
of people over the Internet.
The lawsuit will also include a hearing with Massachusetts
Institute of Technology's representatives, as the authorities considers the
school directly responsible for not properly instructing its students on the
importance of keeping such information secured.
Their actions were defended by some, with Eric Johanson, a computer
security researcher, going on the record and claiming that none of the
information prepared for release by the students should be considered new, as
the works of the processes were known for quite some time and by a large number
of people.
He also added that "prohibition of open discussion of security
vulnerabilities greatly harms the ability of researchers to function and has a
chilling effect not only on publication, but on whether some important research
is done in the first place, greatly stifling scientific advancement."
The computer conference, called DEFCON, is considered one of
the best hacker conventions in the world, with its first edition going back all
the way to 1993. The event attracts more than 4,000 people every year, bringing
new information and details about a significant number of computer-related
topics.
Image Credit: www.mbta.com
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