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 encryption codes and the imprisonment of attackers who break encryption have raised many questions about what's moral or legal in releasing information about hashing algorithms. 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: Should people who are able to break a hashing algorithm be allowed to post their findings on the Internet? Do you think the reporters that report cracking exploits and details are exercising their First Amendment rights when including the source code or procedure for breaking the encryption in an article? 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.