Researchers bemoan legal threats to IT work

Lack of legislation scares computer scientists off work that could brand them “cyber-criminals”, study finds

Research on information technology and security is in urgent need of better legal protection, an analysis has found.

A study by the FZI Research Centre for Information Technology in Karlsruhe shows that Germany’s legislation on such research creates disincentives for public bodies to get involved. In a statement, the centre warned that the methods and technical procedures used in such research are similar to those of “cyber-criminals”, which could land computer scientists undertaking such work in hot water.