Cops should be allowed to hack into computers, police officials say
Law enforcement agencies should be allowed to hack into computers to identify cybercriminals and collect evidence, representatives from Europol and the Dutch National Police argued in front of a room full of security professionals at the RSA Europe security conference in Amsterdam.
The Dutch parliament is expected to start debating a legislative proposal introduced earlier this year that would give the Dutch police the right to break into computers to investigate crimes, gather evidence and even take disruptive measures to stop crimes in progress.
"We don't call it hacking, and we definitely don't call it hacking back, because we won't be waiting until we are hacked," said Peter Zinn, a senior cybercrime adviser for the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), during the Wednesday panel, "Hacking Back as a Law Enforcement Role." The more appropriate term would be "lawful intrusion," he said.
