[뉴욕타임스로 논술을 잡아라]For hackers, something worse than death

For hackers, something worse than death

July 12, 2005 / By John Tierney

■칼럼

Last year a German teenager named Sven Jaschan 1) released the Sasser worm 2), one of the costliest acts of sabotage * in the history of the Internet. It crippled computers around the world, closing businesses, halting trains and grounding * airplanes. Which of these punishments does he deserve?

A) A 21-month suspended sentence and 30 hours of community service.

B) Two years in prison.

C) A five-year ban on using computers.

D) Death.

E) Something worse.

If you answered A, you must be the German judge who gave him that sentence last week.

If you answered B or C, you're confusing him with other hackers who have been sent to prison and banned from using computers or the Internet. But those punishments don't seem to have deterred hackers like Mr. Jaschan from taking their place* .

I'm tempted to say * that the correct answer is D, and not just because of the man-years I've spent running virus scans and reformatting hard drives. I'm almost convinced by Steven Landsburg's 3) cost-benefit analysis showing that the spreaders of computer viruses and worms are more logical candidates for capital punishment * than murderers are.

Professor Landsburg, an economist at the University of Rochester, has calculated the relative value to society of executing murderers and hackers. By using studies estimating the deterrent value of capital punishment, he figures that executing one murderer yields at most $100 million in social benefits.

The benefits of executing a hacker would be greater, he argues, because the social costs of hacking are estimated to be so much higher: $50 billion per year. Deterring a mere one-fifth of 1 percent of those crimes - one in 500 hackers - would save society $100 million. And Professor Landsburg believes that a lot more than one in 500 hackers would be deterred by the sight of a colleague on death row *.

I see his logic, but I also see practical difficulties. For one thing, many hackers live in places where capital punishment is illegal. For another, most of them are teenage boys, a group that has never been known for fearing death. They're probably more afraid of going five years without computer games.

So that leaves us with E: something worse than death. Something that would approximate the millions of hours of tedium that hackers have inflicted on society.

Hackers are the Internet equivalent of Richard Reid 4), the shoe-bomber who didn't manage to hurt anyone on his airplane but has been annoying travelers ever since. When I join the line of passengers taking off their shoes at the airport, I get little satisfaction in thinking that the man responsible for this ritual is sitting somewhere by himself in a prison cell, probably with his shoes on.

He ought to spend his days within smelling range of all those socks at the airport. In an exclusive poll I once conducted among fellow passengers, I found that 80 percent favored forcing Mr. Reid to sit next to the metal detector, helping small children put their sneakers back on.

The remaining 20 percent in the poll (meaning one guy) said that wasn't harsh enough. He advocated requiring Mr. Reid to change the Odor-Eaters 5) insoles of runners at the end of the New York City Marathon.

What would be the equivalent public service for Internet sociopaths * ? Maybe convicted * spammers could be sentenced to community service testing all their own wares. The number of organ-enlargement offers 6) would decline if a spammer thought he'd have to appear in a public-service television commercial explaining that he'd tried them all and they just didn't work for him.

Convicted hackers like Mr. Jaschan could be sentenced to a lifetime of removing worms and viruses, but the computer experts I consulted said there would be too big a risk that the hackers would enjoy the job. After all, Mr. Jaschan is now doing just that for a software security firm.

The experts weren't sure that any punishment could fit the crime, but they had several suggestions: Make the hacker spend 16 hours a day fielding * help-desk inquiries in an AOL 7) chat room for computer novices. Force him to do this with a user name at least * as uncool * as KoolDude and to work on a vintage * IBM PC with a 2400-baud * dial-up connection. Most painful of all for any geek *, make him use Windows 95 for the rest of his life.

I realize that this may not be enough. If you have any better ideas, send them along.

- July 12, 2005 / By John Tierney

■주해

1)넷스카이(Netsky)와 사서(Sasser) 바이러스를 만든 독일의 10대 소년.

2)지난해 출현했던 사서 웜은 전 세계적으로 50만 대 이상의 컴퓨터에 피해를 주었다. 특히 홍 콩 병원과 대만 우체국 등을 마비시키면서 세계 곳곳에서 엄청난 ‘바이러스 재앙’을 몰고 왔다.

3)미국 시카고대와 뉴욕 로체스터대에서 각각 수학과 경제학으로 박사학위를 받았으며, 현재 뉴욕 로체스터대에서 경제학을 가르치고 있다. 온라인 잡지 ‘슬레이트’의 인기 칼럼 ‘일상생 활의 경제학’을 1996년부터 썼고, ‘포브스’에서도 다년간 칼럼니스트로 활동했다.

4)2001년 12월 스리랑카 출신 리처드 리드가 성냥불을 켜 구두 뒤축에 숨긴 폭탄을 터뜨리려는 순간 2명의 승무원들이 이를 발견하고 큰 소리로 도움을 요청했다. 순간 범인의 주위에 있던 프로농구 선수 등이 순식간에 테러범을 덮쳤고 의사 2명이 진정제를 주사했다. 승무원 12명 과 승객 185명 등 모두 197명이 탄 이 비행기는 22일 사건 당시 대서양 상공을 날고 있었고 급발진한 미국 공군 F-15 전투기 2대의 유도를 받아 보스턴 로건 국제공항에 비상 착륙했다. 이 뒤로 비행기 승객들에게 구두를 벗고 보안검색을 받는 절차가 추가됐다.

5)악취와 땀을 제거해 주는 제품의 총칭.

6)기구를 사서 이용하면 페니스 길이나 사이즈가 얼마 더 커질 것이라는 따위의 쓰레기 광고 문구.

7)America on line(미국의 인터넷 회사).

■어휘

* sabotage=Destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations, as by civilians or enemy agents in time of war.

* ground=To place on or cause to touch the ground.

* take one's place=위치를 차지하다.

* I am[feel] ∼ed to say=…이라고 말하고 싶다.

* capital punishment=The penalty of death for the commission of a crime.

* death row=The part of a prison for housing inmates who have received the death penalty. Also called death house.

* sociopath=One who is affected with a personality disorder marked by antisocial behavior.

* convict=(Law) To find or prove (someone) guilty of an offense or crime, especially by the verdict of a court. 예문) The jury convicted the defendant of manslaughter.

* field=To give an unrehearsed response to. 예문) fielded tough questions from the press.

* at least=In any event; anyway. 예문) You might at least answer.

* uncool=Not in accord with the standards or mores of a specified group

* vintage=Old or outmoded.

* baud=A unit of speed in data transmission equal to one bit per second.

* geek=A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

■돋보기-온라인 범죄, 어떤 형벌이 효과적일까

오프라인에서 벌어지는 테러리즘은 준비, 실행에 막대한 비용이 들고 목숨을 건 위험이 따르는 데 비하여 사이버 테러는 인적, 경제적 비용이 훨씬 적습니다. 종래의 테러리즘은 일정한 메시지가 들어 있고 그 목표가 공개적인 데 비해 사이버테러리즘은 특정한 정치적 경제적 목적 없이 맹목적으로 타인의 사이트를 공격하거나 장난 삼아 감행하는 경우가 있습니다.

1991년 걸프전 때 네덜란드 해커들이 이라크 후세인 대통령에게 중동에서 미국의 군사활동을 교란시키는 조건으로 100만 달러를 요구한 적이 있습니다. 해커들이 적군의 정보통신망을 마비시키는 용병으로 등장할 것임을 예고한 사례입니다.

이 글의 필자는 컴퓨터 해커들에게 어떤 형벌을 내려야만 사회적으로 속죄(贖罪)하고 교정(矯正)이 될지에 관해 흥미로운 아이디어를 내놓고 있습니다. 해커들은 대개 컴퓨터 마니아들입니다. 화면 한 장이 뜨는데 2, 3분씩 걸리는 전화선 연결방식의 낡은 컴퓨터에 95년형 윈도를 일생 동안 쓰게 한다면 컴퓨터광들은 죽음보다 더 심한 처벌이라고 항변할 것입니다.

인터넷을 이용한 신종 범죄는 오프라인 범죄를 다루던 법률이나 처벌 방법으로는 효과적이지 않습니다. 여러분이 재판관이라면 사서 웜 유포자에게 어떤 형벌을 선고하겠습니까. 이글의 필자가 제시한 A, B, C, D, E 다섯 가지 형벌 중에서 하나를 고르시고 판결 이유를 논술로 써보십시오.

☞ 자세한 주해는 이지논술 사이트를 참고하세요