Is hacking in self-defence legal?

In sport, sometimes the best defence is a good offence, but since hacking is considered illegal, organisations under a cyber attack only have defensive options. Or do they? A legal expert says retaliatory hacking might not be illegal in Australia.

The general rule for penetration testers, or hackers who make a crust breaking into others’ computers, is don’t hack unless you’ve got consent. “We can hack when we have permission to do it,” says Rob McAdam, chief executive of penetration-testing firm PureHacking.