InformationWeek: Security Developer Snared In Legal Tar Pit

“In the days following the July 2001 Code Red worm outbreak,
which infected 359,000 systems in 14 hours, software developer Tom
Liston started work on an application that would turn the tables on
worms. He created LaBrea, which essentially acts like a digital tar
pit, trapping hackers and worms, forcing hackers to break off
attacks, and preventing worms from moving on to other
computers.

“The free, open-source application has been heralded in security
circles and nominated for awards as a unique weapon. It’s also been
pulled from Lipton’s Hackbusters.net site by its author. He yanked
it April 15 when the Illinois resident learned that a 4-month-old
state law (Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5) makes it illegal to create
a device capable of disrupting a communication service without the
express authorization of the communication service provider…”

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