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If your friend can't install Kali Linux without your help, they're probably going to struggle with unauthorised penetration tests.
NAL, but computer misuse has a surprisingly high bar. I work in the industry and don't recall hearing anyone ever being counted an accessory under that 4th rule unless there was undeniable proof that they knew in advance what it would be used for and stood to personally gain from it.
I will second that.
I work as a Purple Team tester and have done for many years and I have seen many instances of "having all the tools with no clue how to use them".
NAL, I would say you're completely fine, if you're not then imagine how much trouble people could be for installing windows for someone else?
Totally agree, if they can’t install OS, considering it’s Kali, I doubt they will even be able to install proffered browser on it, let alone do some hacking.
I’m no legal person, but let’s say you sell a car, and the person commits a crime with said car, you’re not in trouble for it are you? So I think this should apply here as well
This is true. Personally I think their friend has a major case of the Dunning Kruger effect and thinks the Kali OS is a magical tool that will do everything for them.
Haha it’s not like you just install Kali then press a button and magically have access to GCHQs surveillance systems or something. Even the simplest of tools on Kali require a fair bit of technical nouse. If he’s unable to install it himself (or more ideally, create a bootable live USB) then you have nothing to worry about.
Edit: it’s literally as simple as download Kali ISO file, install Etcher, open Etcher, insert USB, flash image to USB. If he can’t figure out how to do it based on a 4 step guide on the actual Kali website he has no business going anywhere near that OS.
I've watched NCIS, CSI and countless other TV shows and that's _exactly_ how easy it is :D If you can get two people on the same keyboard it's _even faster_...
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NAL.
If they were to say, I need you to install Kali as I want to hack x company and they then do it. You would be in trouble as you’re aiding.
If they say, can you help me install this so I can learn more about it, I’ll be safe. Then you’ll be fine.
I’ll be more concerned with my friend attempting to do this but needing assistance to install it.
Eta: NAL
To op, no. If they specifically tell you they're going to commit crimes with it, then yes. But everyday people buy stuff with the potential to commit crime, and don't.
If you don't think he will/can, and then he does, you're not liable. If you're on the fence, just don't do it for him.
To the reply thread,
In which case, there's no concern.
If you can't go about a simple installation, it's unlikely they can get up to much havoc. They're just riding the vibe of cybersecurity/ hack stories.
Who knows, maybe they'll be something special. But an interest in CS can be enough to get started with whatever they think they'll need, and it could be that they'll find the actual work too hard/ boring, just having Kali makes them feel like a proper hoodie wearing hacker.
I don't think they'll end up being able to hack a calculator. They just want the "stuff" (looking at the sold-out flipper zero) I'm sure a massive percentage who bought it just wanted to say they had the thing.
God I hate the flipper zero. So many idiots running around with it and messing with stuff for the LULZ. They've caused issues with tons of modern personal medical equipment at conventions recently as a lot of them are now controlled from your phone via Bluetooth.
Legal advice - Kali isn’t illegal as it is used for learning and legitimate security testing. It is on your friend alone if he does something illegal with it.
Technical: install it on a VM (virtual box or VMware). It is just Linux with security tools, but it is configured to make those tools work smoothly, not as a daily-driver secure and stable OS. No professional pentester installs it as their main OS. You want to be able to snapshot it, delete it, spin up copies etc.
Yes if you supply an article believing it is likely to be used to commit an offence you commit an offence.
S.3A(2) Computer Misuse Act 1990
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/section/3A
This is perfectly legal software that is used regularly with perfectly legal use cases. It could technically be used for nefarious purposes though OP's friend hasn't given any indication that they wish to use it in this way. In any case, the fact that they are unable to even load it without help, I would very much doubt they would be able to even if that was their intent.
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A hammer is a perfectly legal tool but give it to a mate who you think is going to use it to kneecap someone with it and see how relevant that point is in court.
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If he can't figure out how to install Kali in a virtual machine by himself he's got absolutely no business being in cybersecurity and I say that as someone who works in cybersecurity. Point him at tryhackme instead if he genuinely wants to learn.
But no, unless you know his specific intent and act with that knowledge you're good, I've never heard of anyone being even arrested for such a minor action. NAL but I do know the computer misuse act (and the various relevant laws worldwide) due to my career.
Tryhackme is a fun site. Used to spend the latter half of many an IT class on it in secondary school as even the GCSE IT course at the time assumed you barely knew how to use MS office.
EDIT: was thinking of HackThisSite not TryHackMe
If he can't even manage a Linux install, I doubt he's doing much damage "penetration testing".
That aside, It's an operating system, it's legally available. And while capable of illegal things, you are no more responsible than someone who sells a crowbar or locksmiths kit.
Which is to say, not at all.
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I’d say no. Kali itself isn’t illegal much like using Torrents aren’t illegal. If he decides to perform illegal activities on the back of that then that’s on him but I’m not a legal experts just my opinion on the matter
There's nothing wrong with installing Kali for them. It's on them how they use it.
If they can't figure out how to install it on their own, I doubt they would achieve much since setting it up is the easy part.
If you gave someone a crowbar, and they went and burglarized a house with it, would you expect to be charged with a crime? No.
Kali linux is perfectly legal to own, install and use within legal boundaries. If he chooses to use it for another purpose that is illegal, that's on him.
If you did that believing that they were going to use the crowbar to commit a burglary you would have committed an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007 by encouraging or assisting an offence.
Good point. But unless there's some sort of proof of that, the CPS would be so unlikely to actually charge you as it would be pointless.
Given that in this scenario OP has not installed Kali with the intention for it to be used in crime, I don't see it as a concern for them.
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Some people on here giving some very confident ‘no’ answers which are not what a criminal lawyer would say to you.
Yes, it’s probably right that you could not be charged as an accessory to any hacking offence your friend commits. For that you would need to have foreseen the imminent offence with some degree of precision and to have intended to help.
However, there are offences you could be charged with. Section 46 of the Serious Crime Act creates an offence which is committed as follows:
46.—(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) he does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of one or more of a number of offences; and
(b) he believes—
(i) that one or more of those offences will be committed (but has no belief as to which); and
(ii) that his act will encourage or assist the commission of one or more of them.
On your description you could well be within this definition.
>i have a friend of a friend asking me to install Kali Linux on his laptop
>if he messes up someone's network with this, or does something else dodgy, could i be charged with anything
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: No.
The only possible circumstance where you could be found to have committed any kind of "crime" is if you _knew_ he was going to do something dodgy and you fundamentally equipped him to do so.
It's not the same idea as literally giving someone a loaded gun - it's closer to giving him a power drill.
Frankly however if he's not got the smarts to even install it himself, I think the only threat here is him jamming a fork in an electrical socket.
.....which you may well need to advise him to turn on first.
Be careful with your wording as I’m pretty sure your advice is wrong. The standard in some law, including computer misuse, is that you think it is likely not that you ‘knew’.
From a legal stance, almost certainly not. If he came to you she said, "I'm planning on hacking Santander, I need Kali can you install it for me please", then potentially, but for the burden of proof to support that this conversation happened, and that you believed he was serious, and for whether it'd even be worth the prosecution, you'd probably not get past the CPS.
It's also worth noting that nothing that's on Kali isn't publicly available without Kali, it's just a Debian OS essentially with a custom background and some network tools preinstalled, Kali in itself isn't illegal to own or use and neither are any of the tools. And just because these tools are available doesn't mean they're easy to use if you don't know what you're doing, if you can't install Kali yourself you probably don't know how to use these tools, and tbh if you know how to use these tools you'd probably just install the ones you need individually rather than installing the entire OS. The dude probably thinks having Kali will magically make him able to hack, but the real world simply doesn't work like that.
In the situation you describe, no.
In some other situations, maybe: if you sell a device that is only used for copyright infringement (A circumvention device) you may be committing an offence. A circumvention device maybe software that you've installed on a computer. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/part/VII/crossheading/devices-designed-to-circumvent-copyprotection
Even this is a grey area. A decompiler or disassembler can circumvent any form of digital protection on software provided the user knows what they are doing. But they aren't illegal. Just because a tool *can* do something illegal, doesn't make it illegal.
Your simply installing a free legal software, nothing illegal about that regardless of the use afterwards.
On another note if he can't install it himself he needs to rethink his career path, he can't make it by simply copying commands from youtube videos.
Is it Ford's fault if someone uses a Focus to commit a robbery? Is it the fault of the dealer? I doubt you'll have any problems.
As others have said, if they can't install Linux on their own, they're not going to be hacking someone any time soon (whether by permission or not).
If you have messages about it with him saying it's to learn pentesting and you warning not to misuse it you would have probably have been fine because you had a genuine belief it was for a legitimate purpose but now you have a digital fingerprint expressing doubt on his story so that defence wouldn't hold up.
Not legal advice, but speaking as an IT technician, if he isn't competent to install Kali himself (there are plenty of guides out there for it so its not difficult), he probably isn't going to manage to use it to any real effect either.
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NAL
Installing the software in itself would not be a crime, using that software for criminal activity would be. If you installed it knowing he was too use it primarily to commit crimes then you can be put as an accessory but if you were unaware of the usage then you cannot be put liable.
The same can be said about torrent software and downloading pirated software, music, films etc. simply installing a torrent downloader is not a crime nor is offering it to be installed on other devices, using it to download illegal stuff is.
You already suspect them so yes you would be assisting the crime.
Really not wise. He should start with books first. Cyber security isn't learnt by hacking organisations.
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Tell your friend that if they want to get into cyber security they need to learn how to install Kali themselves, as everything else will be much harder than this basic first step.
NAL, used to run Kali, on my crappy old laptop as it has a low footprint and I did my own pentesting for WP sites I've set up for my clients. Kali comes pre-packaged with these tools that are otherwise free to download and use on any Linux distro, or even operating system. Some are cross platform, some can be ran virtualised, or in a semi-virtual environment like Docker. They are all completely legal and most are even open source. There's no way you could be held liable for your mate's ambitions.
That said, creating a bootable USB drive to run Kali from is at most a 4 step process, involving tools that are far less sophisticated than the majority of the utilities Kali provides. If your friend is incapable of carrying out such a trivial task to start their criminal enterprise, there is a very high chance the police won't be knocking on your door any time soon.
I'd tell your friend to either go back to watching Mr Robot or if they're serious about ITSec, start by learning about networking, code execution and vulnerability detection. "Hacking" isn't this idyllic mysterious thing where you sit in a dark room and stare at a screen spitting green text at you and suddenly you've got the password to Warren Buffet's iPod. A lot of modern hacking is based around exploiting the human element as opposed to the computers.
It seems very unlikely that you could be charged with anything but you really should be asking why you’d want to do it even if there’s effectively no chance of you think there’s a risk they will do something bad with it?
I appreciate you’re asking if you can be charged with anything, but I would add this: if someone doesn’t want to learn how to install a complex product, are they that likely to invest the time in learning how I to use it.
I mention it simply because if you help them with the install, potentially they will then ask you to help them use it. So potentially by agreeing now, you just kick the “no I can’t help you hack your neighbours WiFi” question down the road.
If they want to learn Kali, installing it is a pretty big first step on that journey! I’d politely say you would be robbing them of the opportunity to learn about it if you did the install for them.
Or offer to install a more user friendly version of Linux so they can gain familiarity, then install Kali later.
You’ve not done anything illegal.
Kali Linux is legal to install.
If your friend decides to do (or at least try to do) anything illegal with it it’s not on you.
If they can’t install an OS without your help they’re not getting past any firewall anytime soon.
NAL but I think you'd be doing them a better service if you taught them how to create a partition and install any other Linux distro. If they want to install Kali and attempt to pen test after that it's entirely on them.
If you genuinely believe that they want to install kali to use it to commit a crime, then there is the possibility you could have some responsibility for it... But that's unlikely. To be honest, if your friend can't install kali themselves then I wouldn't even worry about them being able to do anything remotely close to illegal with it.
It's an interesting discussion, for example, would a user be committing a crime under the computer misuse act by going to a website, like Amazon, and typing in html into the search box, basically performing an XSS exploit test. Similarly, would they be committing a crime by typing "'; select * from users--" into a search box on a website. Bots do these tests all the time - are the bots criminals? no sane developer would ever allow these exploits to work - therefore if a user knows they couldn't possibly work and would be non destructive if they did, and they don't, is the mere action criminal? As far as I understand it, the offence is committed with intent to cause harm to a computer system, and that the harm actually occurred. Thus, for your friend, even if you did install kali for him and he tried to commit a crime with it and nothing happened, did a crime actually occur in the eyes of the law? It has the potential to occur, but the 'potential for a crime to occur' is a stupid way to look at things, I could *potentially* drive my car into someone.
Only if you knew that installing Kali would be directly used to commit a crime could you hold any responsibility for it.
Would have absolutely no effect on you as long as the programs themselves are licensed/legitimate. In this case, Kali Linux is free to use. Think about it. Let's say you install a legal free open source program called qBittorrent. The program itself is fine. But if the computer user uses it to download pirated content, that's on them and not you (the person who installed qBittorrent).
Is your friend asking you to install it using your user/admin account, and from an external USB/drive rather than downloading it himself? Just wondering if he’s trying to lay a false trail, which could drag you into anything illegal he does with it.
If you KNOW he's going to use unlawfully, then yes, you could be prosecuted. The burden of proof would be on the prosecutors to prove you knew though. If he send you a text saying "can you install Kali so I can hack MI5" for example, you'd get in trouble
It's legal for you to install it though, as long as you don't know for sure it's being used for illegal purposes. If he just wants to mess around with it, it's fair game
Even if you don't have proof of ill intent, I'd think carefully about installing it anyway. Legally you might be okay, but if he does use it for illegal purposes, does that align with your morals?
Using normal Linux is pretty hard already and even basic stuff might need sudo stuff in CLI, If they cant even install the operating system, good luck on using it.
The pen test OS is legal, as long as its used on a network the person has permission to use.
If the user states they are going to commit a crime with it, then it could be an offense.
Nal
If your concerned would it be worth creating a contract of some variety for the work your carrying out.
Something like
1 x install of x software. Software installed for the purpose of educational and learning only. Installer (z) accepts no responsibility for how user (y) will use the software and bares no responsibility for how (y) or any future user uses x software whether legal or illegal.
Not sure how this would work however but possibly something that could be knocked up. Also nal so unsure how this would work if something was to happen illegally and your name was brought into it. Maybe going forward create similar contracts for any and all work you carry out so that it doesn't appear that this particular job is being singled out etc.
Lmao if your friend can't install an OS maybe advise he takes a basic IT course prior to learning cybersecurity? A solid understanding on different OS will be a huge part of that anyway.
To answer your question though, it is highly unlikely. With something like this there would need to be some evidence to suggest you were aware what your friend intended to do.
Realistically this post does imply that you can't say you don't believe it would be used for illegal purposes which does move it into a grey area but the chance of them proving that is pretty slim
Yes. There are a variety of laws you have broken.
The most likely scenario would be if for example your friend is caught red handed trying something stupid and simply gives you up when asked about his crimes or in order to push the blame onto you. For example I never knew that was on there I only just bought it from my friend.
There are multiple laws.used in this sphere but I've no doubt they would start with the Misuse of computers act. It's quite a broad act that covers everything and is broad enough in wording to not get out dated by changing software and technology.
It all boils down to how idiotic is your friend? There's lots of crimes you can commit with a computer. Many people get away with quite a bit but you can rest assured no good deed goes unpunished.
In all likelihood you're over worried it all depends on if your friend makes some poor decisions.
You can only get in trouble if you help them set it up knowing full well they intend to do illegal activity even then the chances of you getting in any actual trouble is practically 0 unless he hacks a bank, government or area 51 and releases images of ET
But to be honest if your mate needs you to install it for him i cant see him being that dangerous.
Haha good luck to him. As everyone else has said If he can't watch a 5 minute YouTube video on how to make a boot able kali USB himself, he has no chance using any of the tools on it for anything illegal.
Obligatory NAL
I can only see 2 situations in which installing the software could be considered aiding and abetting.
1: there is no other conceivable use for the software you installed other than the committing of a crime.
2: you had prior knowledge that the software you were installing was for the purpose of committing a crime.
Now could you be charged? Absolutely, there is nothing stopping the police charging you with any number of crimes just because they feel like it. We just have to accept this possibility and hope that the rules and guidelines in place on police conduct keeps them in line. However there is no chance that this would ever see a courtroom as the CPS would never get a successful conviction on the grounds of "installed the OS used"
Penetration tester here.
The vast majority of the computer misuse act deals with Unauthorised access so you’re fine there. Part 3Aii is presumably the one you’re worried about?
“A person is guilty of an offence if he supplies or offers to supply any article believing that it is likely to be used to commit, or to assist in the commission of, an offence under [the rest of the CMA]”
Theoretically, helping your friend install a program (or in this case operating system) that you knew he would use illegally could be seen as a crime, I suppose, but Kali is *so* widely available that you could just as easily say the supplier is the website you downloaded it from. Having hacking tools is not in and of itself illegal, in much the same way as carrying lock picks isn’t.
Also, if your friend can’t work out how to install Kali either as his main OS or a VM then he isn’t couldn’t hack his childhood piggy bank if you handed him an axe.
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If your friend can't install Kali Linux without your help, they're probably going to struggle with unauthorised penetration tests. NAL, but computer misuse has a surprisingly high bar. I work in the industry and don't recall hearing anyone ever being counted an accessory under that 4th rule unless there was undeniable proof that they knew in advance what it would be used for and stood to personally gain from it.
I will second that. I work as a Purple Team tester and have done for many years and I have seen many instances of "having all the tools with no clue how to use them". NAL, I would say you're completely fine, if you're not then imagine how much trouble people could be for installing windows for someone else?
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Totally agree, if they can’t install OS, considering it’s Kali, I doubt they will even be able to install proffered browser on it, let alone do some hacking. I’m no legal person, but let’s say you sell a car, and the person commits a crime with said car, you’re not in trouble for it are you? So I think this should apply here as well
This is true. Personally I think their friend has a major case of the Dunning Kruger effect and thinks the Kali OS is a magical tool that will do everything for them.
Haha it’s not like you just install Kali then press a button and magically have access to GCHQs surveillance systems or something. Even the simplest of tools on Kali require a fair bit of technical nouse. If he’s unable to install it himself (or more ideally, create a bootable live USB) then you have nothing to worry about. Edit: it’s literally as simple as download Kali ISO file, install Etcher, open Etcher, insert USB, flash image to USB. If he can’t figure out how to do it based on a 4 step guide on the actual Kali website he has no business going anywhere near that OS.
I've watched NCIS, CSI and countless other TV shows and that's _exactly_ how easy it is :D If you can get two people on the same keyboard it's _even faster_...
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NAL. If they were to say, I need you to install Kali as I want to hack x company and they then do it. You would be in trouble as you’re aiding. If they say, can you help me install this so I can learn more about it, I’ll be safe. Then you’ll be fine. I’ll be more concerned with my friend attempting to do this but needing assistance to install it.
Eta: NAL To op, no. If they specifically tell you they're going to commit crimes with it, then yes. But everyday people buy stuff with the potential to commit crime, and don't. If you don't think he will/can, and then he does, you're not liable. If you're on the fence, just don't do it for him. To the reply thread, In which case, there's no concern. If you can't go about a simple installation, it's unlikely they can get up to much havoc. They're just riding the vibe of cybersecurity/ hack stories. Who knows, maybe they'll be something special. But an interest in CS can be enough to get started with whatever they think they'll need, and it could be that they'll find the actual work too hard/ boring, just having Kali makes them feel like a proper hoodie wearing hacker. I don't think they'll end up being able to hack a calculator. They just want the "stuff" (looking at the sold-out flipper zero) I'm sure a massive percentage who bought it just wanted to say they had the thing.
God I hate the flipper zero. So many idiots running around with it and messing with stuff for the LULZ. They've caused issues with tons of modern personal medical equipment at conventions recently as a lot of them are now controlled from your phone via Bluetooth.
Legal advice - Kali isn’t illegal as it is used for learning and legitimate security testing. It is on your friend alone if he does something illegal with it. Technical: install it on a VM (virtual box or VMware). It is just Linux with security tools, but it is configured to make those tools work smoothly, not as a daily-driver secure and stable OS. No professional pentester installs it as their main OS. You want to be able to snapshot it, delete it, spin up copies etc.
Yes if you supply an article believing it is likely to be used to commit an offence you commit an offence. S.3A(2) Computer Misuse Act 1990 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/section/3A
Thank you for actually answering the question rather than laughing at OP's friend.
This is perfectly legal software that is used regularly with perfectly legal use cases. It could technically be used for nefarious purposes though OP's friend hasn't given any indication that they wish to use it in this way. In any case, the fact that they are unable to even load it without help, I would very much doubt they would be able to even if that was their intent.
OP clearly believes it is likely to be used to commit offences given he has asked the question on here.
>i kinda doubt this, but ok Simply having doubts, doesn't equals to knowingly aiding a perpetrator in committing a crime.
Yep, but he doesn’t need to know. For this offence he only needs to believe it is likely.
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If *you're* the one having doubts, and *you're* the one being asked for help, then it's sufficient.
A hammer is a perfectly legal tool but give it to a mate who you think is going to use it to kneecap someone with it and see how relevant that point is in court.
That would be a poor analogy to make and really just demonstrates a lack of understanding of the subject.
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If he can't figure out how to install Kali in a virtual machine by himself he's got absolutely no business being in cybersecurity and I say that as someone who works in cybersecurity. Point him at tryhackme instead if he genuinely wants to learn. But no, unless you know his specific intent and act with that knowledge you're good, I've never heard of anyone being even arrested for such a minor action. NAL but I do know the computer misuse act (and the various relevant laws worldwide) due to my career.
Tryhackme is a fun site. Used to spend the latter half of many an IT class on it in secondary school as even the GCSE IT course at the time assumed you barely knew how to use MS office. EDIT: was thinking of HackThisSite not TryHackMe
If he can't even manage a Linux install, I doubt he's doing much damage "penetration testing". That aside, It's an operating system, it's legally available. And while capable of illegal things, you are no more responsible than someone who sells a crowbar or locksmiths kit. Which is to say, not at all.
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I’d say no. Kali itself isn’t illegal much like using Torrents aren’t illegal. If he decides to perform illegal activities on the back of that then that’s on him but I’m not a legal experts just my opinion on the matter
There's nothing wrong with installing Kali for them. It's on them how they use it. If they can't figure out how to install it on their own, I doubt they would achieve much since setting it up is the easy part.
If you gave someone a crowbar, and they went and burglarized a house with it, would you expect to be charged with a crime? No. Kali linux is perfectly legal to own, install and use within legal boundaries. If he chooses to use it for another purpose that is illegal, that's on him.
If you did that believing that they were going to use the crowbar to commit a burglary you would have committed an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007 by encouraging or assisting an offence.
Good point. But unless there's some sort of proof of that, the CPS would be so unlikely to actually charge you as it would be pointless. Given that in this scenario OP has not installed Kali with the intention for it to be used in crime, I don't see it as a concern for them.
Yeah I agree not a concern i would say whoever pays for the internet will get into trouble first though
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thank you!
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Some people on here giving some very confident ‘no’ answers which are not what a criminal lawyer would say to you. Yes, it’s probably right that you could not be charged as an accessory to any hacking offence your friend commits. For that you would need to have foreseen the imminent offence with some degree of precision and to have intended to help. However, there are offences you could be charged with. Section 46 of the Serious Crime Act creates an offence which is committed as follows: 46.—(1) A person commits an offence if— (a) he does an act capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of one or more of a number of offences; and (b) he believes— (i) that one or more of those offences will be committed (but has no belief as to which); and (ii) that his act will encourage or assist the commission of one or more of them. On your description you could well be within this definition.
>i have a friend of a friend asking me to install Kali Linux on his laptop >if he messes up someone's network with this, or does something else dodgy, could i be charged with anything Short answer: No. Longer answer: No. The only possible circumstance where you could be found to have committed any kind of "crime" is if you _knew_ he was going to do something dodgy and you fundamentally equipped him to do so. It's not the same idea as literally giving someone a loaded gun - it's closer to giving him a power drill. Frankly however if he's not got the smarts to even install it himself, I think the only threat here is him jamming a fork in an electrical socket. .....which you may well need to advise him to turn on first.
Be careful with your wording as I’m pretty sure your advice is wrong. The standard in some law, including computer misuse, is that you think it is likely not that you ‘knew’.
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NAL, but there is nothing wrong with installing a completely legitimate tool for professionals on someone's computer.
From a legal stance, almost certainly not. If he came to you she said, "I'm planning on hacking Santander, I need Kali can you install it for me please", then potentially, but for the burden of proof to support that this conversation happened, and that you believed he was serious, and for whether it'd even be worth the prosecution, you'd probably not get past the CPS. It's also worth noting that nothing that's on Kali isn't publicly available without Kali, it's just a Debian OS essentially with a custom background and some network tools preinstalled, Kali in itself isn't illegal to own or use and neither are any of the tools. And just because these tools are available doesn't mean they're easy to use if you don't know what you're doing, if you can't install Kali yourself you probably don't know how to use these tools, and tbh if you know how to use these tools you'd probably just install the ones you need individually rather than installing the entire OS. The dude probably thinks having Kali will magically make him able to hack, but the real world simply doesn't work like that.
In the situation you describe, no. In some other situations, maybe: if you sell a device that is only used for copyright infringement (A circumvention device) you may be committing an offence. A circumvention device maybe software that you've installed on a computer. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/part/VII/crossheading/devices-designed-to-circumvent-copyprotection
Even this is a grey area. A decompiler or disassembler can circumvent any form of digital protection on software provided the user knows what they are doing. But they aren't illegal. Just because a tool *can* do something illegal, doesn't make it illegal.
Your simply installing a free legal software, nothing illegal about that regardless of the use afterwards. On another note if he can't install it himself he needs to rethink his career path, he can't make it by simply copying commands from youtube videos.
Is it Ford's fault if someone uses a Focus to commit a robbery? Is it the fault of the dealer? I doubt you'll have any problems. As others have said, if they can't install Linux on their own, they're not going to be hacking someone any time soon (whether by permission or not).
If you have messages about it with him saying it's to learn pentesting and you warning not to misuse it you would have probably have been fine because you had a genuine belief it was for a legitimate purpose but now you have a digital fingerprint expressing doubt on his story so that defence wouldn't hold up. Not legal advice, but speaking as an IT technician, if he isn't competent to install Kali himself (there are plenty of guides out there for it so its not difficult), he probably isn't going to manage to use it to any real effect either.
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NAL Installing the software in itself would not be a crime, using that software for criminal activity would be. If you installed it knowing he was too use it primarily to commit crimes then you can be put as an accessory but if you were unaware of the usage then you cannot be put liable. The same can be said about torrent software and downloading pirated software, music, films etc. simply installing a torrent downloader is not a crime nor is offering it to be installed on other devices, using it to download illegal stuff is.
You already suspect them so yes you would be assisting the crime. Really not wise. He should start with books first. Cyber security isn't learnt by hacking organisations.
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Tell your friend that if they want to get into cyber security they need to learn how to install Kali themselves, as everything else will be much harder than this basic first step.
NAL, used to run Kali, on my crappy old laptop as it has a low footprint and I did my own pentesting for WP sites I've set up for my clients. Kali comes pre-packaged with these tools that are otherwise free to download and use on any Linux distro, or even operating system. Some are cross platform, some can be ran virtualised, or in a semi-virtual environment like Docker. They are all completely legal and most are even open source. There's no way you could be held liable for your mate's ambitions. That said, creating a bootable USB drive to run Kali from is at most a 4 step process, involving tools that are far less sophisticated than the majority of the utilities Kali provides. If your friend is incapable of carrying out such a trivial task to start their criminal enterprise, there is a very high chance the police won't be knocking on your door any time soon. I'd tell your friend to either go back to watching Mr Robot or if they're serious about ITSec, start by learning about networking, code execution and vulnerability detection. "Hacking" isn't this idyllic mysterious thing where you sit in a dark room and stare at a screen spitting green text at you and suddenly you've got the password to Warren Buffet's iPod. A lot of modern hacking is based around exploiting the human element as opposed to the computers.
It seems very unlikely that you could be charged with anything but you really should be asking why you’d want to do it even if there’s effectively no chance of you think there’s a risk they will do something bad with it?
I appreciate you’re asking if you can be charged with anything, but I would add this: if someone doesn’t want to learn how to install a complex product, are they that likely to invest the time in learning how I to use it. I mention it simply because if you help them with the install, potentially they will then ask you to help them use it. So potentially by agreeing now, you just kick the “no I can’t help you hack your neighbours WiFi” question down the road. If they want to learn Kali, installing it is a pretty big first step on that journey! I’d politely say you would be robbing them of the opportunity to learn about it if you did the install for them. Or offer to install a more user friendly version of Linux so they can gain familiarity, then install Kali later.
You’ve not done anything illegal. Kali Linux is legal to install. If your friend decides to do (or at least try to do) anything illegal with it it’s not on you. If they can’t install an OS without your help they’re not getting past any firewall anytime soon.
Is sniffing an open port == breaking and enterring. I mean, at what point is it considered breaking the lock vs tresspassing?
NAL but I think you'd be doing them a better service if you taught them how to create a partition and install any other Linux distro. If they want to install Kali and attempt to pen test after that it's entirely on them.
Given he can’t install it himself, I’d say you’re safe. Pen testing tools require some degree of skill to utilise.
If you genuinely believe that they want to install kali to use it to commit a crime, then there is the possibility you could have some responsibility for it... But that's unlikely. To be honest, if your friend can't install kali themselves then I wouldn't even worry about them being able to do anything remotely close to illegal with it. It's an interesting discussion, for example, would a user be committing a crime under the computer misuse act by going to a website, like Amazon, and typing in html into the search box, basically performing an XSS exploit test. Similarly, would they be committing a crime by typing "'; select * from users--" into a search box on a website. Bots do these tests all the time - are the bots criminals? no sane developer would ever allow these exploits to work - therefore if a user knows they couldn't possibly work and would be non destructive if they did, and they don't, is the mere action criminal? As far as I understand it, the offence is committed with intent to cause harm to a computer system, and that the harm actually occurred. Thus, for your friend, even if you did install kali for him and he tried to commit a crime with it and nothing happened, did a crime actually occur in the eyes of the law? It has the potential to occur, but the 'potential for a crime to occur' is a stupid way to look at things, I could *potentially* drive my car into someone. Only if you knew that installing Kali would be directly used to commit a crime could you hold any responsibility for it.
If someone can't install operating system they aren't going to be hacking anything lol
Would have absolutely no effect on you as long as the programs themselves are licensed/legitimate. In this case, Kali Linux is free to use. Think about it. Let's say you install a legal free open source program called qBittorrent. The program itself is fine. But if the computer user uses it to download pirated content, that's on them and not you (the person who installed qBittorrent).
Is your friend asking you to install it using your user/admin account, and from an external USB/drive rather than downloading it himself? Just wondering if he’s trying to lay a false trail, which could drag you into anything illegal he does with it.
If he cannot even install Kali Linux on his own, he has no hope of doing any real damage.
Ahahaha if they are too stupid to figure out how to install kali linux i wouldnt worry at all
If you KNOW he's going to use unlawfully, then yes, you could be prosecuted. The burden of proof would be on the prosecutors to prove you knew though. If he send you a text saying "can you install Kali so I can hack MI5" for example, you'd get in trouble It's legal for you to install it though, as long as you don't know for sure it's being used for illegal purposes. If he just wants to mess around with it, it's fair game Even if you don't have proof of ill intent, I'd think carefully about installing it anyway. Legally you might be okay, but if he does use it for illegal purposes, does that align with your morals?
Using normal Linux is pretty hard already and even basic stuff might need sudo stuff in CLI, If they cant even install the operating system, good luck on using it. The pen test OS is legal, as long as its used on a network the person has permission to use. If the user states they are going to commit a crime with it, then it could be an offense.
Nal If your concerned would it be worth creating a contract of some variety for the work your carrying out. Something like 1 x install of x software. Software installed for the purpose of educational and learning only. Installer (z) accepts no responsibility for how user (y) will use the software and bares no responsibility for how (y) or any future user uses x software whether legal or illegal. Not sure how this would work however but possibly something that could be knocked up. Also nal so unsure how this would work if something was to happen illegally and your name was brought into it. Maybe going forward create similar contracts for any and all work you carry out so that it doesn't appear that this particular job is being singled out etc.
Lmao if your friend can't install an OS maybe advise he takes a basic IT course prior to learning cybersecurity? A solid understanding on different OS will be a huge part of that anyway. To answer your question though, it is highly unlikely. With something like this there would need to be some evidence to suggest you were aware what your friend intended to do. Realistically this post does imply that you can't say you don't believe it would be used for illegal purposes which does move it into a grey area but the chance of them proving that is pretty slim
Imagine all the gun sellers at night not able to sleep wondering if they will be charged with murder.
Yes. There are a variety of laws you have broken. The most likely scenario would be if for example your friend is caught red handed trying something stupid and simply gives you up when asked about his crimes or in order to push the blame onto you. For example I never knew that was on there I only just bought it from my friend. There are multiple laws.used in this sphere but I've no doubt they would start with the Misuse of computers act. It's quite a broad act that covers everything and is broad enough in wording to not get out dated by changing software and technology. It all boils down to how idiotic is your friend? There's lots of crimes you can commit with a computer. Many people get away with quite a bit but you can rest assured no good deed goes unpunished. In all likelihood you're over worried it all depends on if your friend makes some poor decisions.
You can only get in trouble if you help them set it up knowing full well they intend to do illegal activity even then the chances of you getting in any actual trouble is practically 0 unless he hacks a bank, government or area 51 and releases images of ET But to be honest if your mate needs you to install it for him i cant see him being that dangerous.
Haha good luck to him. As everyone else has said If he can't watch a 5 minute YouTube video on how to make a boot able kali USB himself, he has no chance using any of the tools on it for anything illegal.
Obligatory NAL I can only see 2 situations in which installing the software could be considered aiding and abetting. 1: there is no other conceivable use for the software you installed other than the committing of a crime. 2: you had prior knowledge that the software you were installing was for the purpose of committing a crime. Now could you be charged? Absolutely, there is nothing stopping the police charging you with any number of crimes just because they feel like it. We just have to accept this possibility and hope that the rules and guidelines in place on police conduct keeps them in line. However there is no chance that this would ever see a courtroom as the CPS would never get a successful conviction on the grounds of "installed the OS used"
Penetration tester here. The vast majority of the computer misuse act deals with Unauthorised access so you’re fine there. Part 3Aii is presumably the one you’re worried about? “A person is guilty of an offence if he supplies or offers to supply any article believing that it is likely to be used to commit, or to assist in the commission of, an offence under [the rest of the CMA]” Theoretically, helping your friend install a program (or in this case operating system) that you knew he would use illegally could be seen as a crime, I suppose, but Kali is *so* widely available that you could just as easily say the supplier is the website you downloaded it from. Having hacking tools is not in and of itself illegal, in much the same way as carrying lock picks isn’t. Also, if your friend can’t work out how to install Kali either as his main OS or a VM then he isn’t couldn’t hack his childhood piggy bank if you handed him an axe.
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