Today, the Cabinet of Ministers is set to sign a recommendation to the President for a Presidential Pardon to the ethical hackers currently charged in Court with the Electronic Communications Act. Luke Bjon Scerri, Giorgio Grigolo and Michael Debono and their lecturer Mark Joseph Vella were charged in court after the CEO of students’ application FreeHour reported them to the Police.
There has also been a lot of misinformation about this case. The students never actually hacked into the students’ application. They found a vulnerability which was publicly visible that could have compromised the data of its users. The Police and the Prosecutor went excessively heavy on them, unlike how they handle Malta’s most hardened criminals and corrupt politicians. The students were also barred from representing Malta in international competitions depriving Malta of its chance to compete and earn titles.
The Prime Minister amended the situation by giving them a Presidential Pardon. Although this is good news, this case is a symptom of the dysfunction the government has created within the system of justice and the enforcing authorities. The authorities wouldn’t have even bothered to act on this ridiculous case if they had actually been dealing with serious and relevant cases.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply