{“lastseen”:”2025-11-12T12:05:11″,”description”:”Former DoJ attorney John Carlin writes about hackback, which he defines thus: \\”A hack back is a type of cyber response that incorporates a counterattack designed to proactively engage with, disable, or collect evidence about an attacker. Although hack backs can take on various forms, they are–\u00adby definition\u00ad–not passive defensive measures.\\”\\n\\nHis conclusion:\\n\\n\\u003e As the law currently stands, specific forms of purely defense measures are authorized so long as they affect only the victim\u2019s system or data.\\n\\u003e \\n\\u003e At the other end of the spectrum, offensive measures that involve accessing or otherwise causing damage or loss to the hacker\u2019s systems are likely prohibited, absent government oversight or authorization. And even then parties should proceed with caution in light of the heightened risks of misattribution, collateral damage, and retaliation.\\n\\u003e \\n\\u003e As for the broad range of other hack back tactics that fall in the middle of active defense and offensive measures, private parties should continue to engage in these tactics only with government oversight or authorization. These measures exist within a legal gray area and would likely benefit from amendments to the CFAA and CISA that clarify and carve out the parameters of authorization for specific self-defense measures. But in the absence of amendments or clarification on the scope of those laws, private actors can seek governmental authorization through an array of channels, whether they be partnering with law enforcement or seeking authorization to engage in more offensive tactics from the courts in connection with private litigation.”,”published”:”2025-11-12T12:01:53″,”modified”:”2025-11-01T16:07:25″,”type”:”schneier”,”title”:”On Hacking Back”,”source”:””,”references”:””,”id”:”SCHNEIER:70E1A709D779F249DF0B19F284391AFD”,”bulletinFamily”:”blog”,”cwe”:null,”cvelist”:[],”sourceData”:””,”sourceHref”:””,”cvss”:{“score”:0,”severity”:”NONE”,”vector”:”NONE”,”version”:”NONE”},”cvss2″:{},”cvss3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””,”cvssV3″:{“version”:””,”vectorString”:””,”baseScore”:0,”baseSeverity”:””,”attackVector”:””,”attackComplexity”:””,”privilegesRequired”:””,”userInteraction”:””,”scope”:””,”confidentialityImpact”:””,”integrityImpact”:””,”availabilityImpact”:””}},”href”:”https:\/\/www.schneier.com\/blog\/archives\/2025\/11\/on-hacking-back.html”,”category_name”:”News”,”post_link”:””,”product”:””,”version”:””,”vendor”:””,”ai_description”:””,”ai_severity”:””,”ai_vendor”:””,”ai_product”:””,”ai_version”:””,”ai_score”:0}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{“lastseen”:”2025-11-12T12:05:11″,”description”:”Former DoJ attorney John Carlin writes about hackback, which he defines thus: \\”A hack back is a type of cyber response that incorporates a counterattack…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,8,12,13,33,114,7,11,5],"class_list":["post-25939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-category_news","tag-cve","tag-cvss","tag-exploit","tag-news","tag-none","tag-schneier","tag-security","tag-tapic","tag-vulnerability"],"yoast_head":"\n