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In the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, there was an article today, about a Tirolian man, who attached a radio scanner to his computer and used it to listen to the communications of emergency services.

After compiling a database of recordings, he wanted to notify authorities of the security hole by setting up access for them to his computer.

The strange part is that apparently his computer was hacked, and these recordings became available on the internet.

The story is still developing, so there isn't any more info than that. However one important fact, is that due to cost reasons, the communications were not encrypted.

This is an important fact because he is accused of being a "hacker" and state prosecutors are now investigating the case.

While reading through the comments section of the article, I notice that many readers are quick to label him as a hacker (and there is nothing wrong with hacking per se), completely ignoring the fact that we are talking about unencrypted radio transmissions.

In order to hack a system, you need to overcome security measures. Where no security measures exist, there is nothing really to hack.

On the one hand, there seems to be a rather vague understanding amongst the masses of what constitutes "hacking", on the other hand people seem to be under the false impression that to listen to unencrypted radio transmissions that belong to authorities is somehow a crime.

If the state uses technologies that have no security measures in order to cut costs, it is their responsibility to deal with the consequences. Not to mention, that this is the wrong way to save money in the first place.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

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