11-27-95. NYPaper: "An Intel computer security expert runs afoul of the law. So much for the 'hacker ethic'?" Regardless of whether one sees Randal Schwartz as a white knight with questionable judgment or a computer criminal who deserves jail time, his tale contains valuable lessons for anyone who uses or manages a corporate computer system. On the Internet, computer programmers and systems administrators have debated whether Mr. Schwartz was a hero or a criminal. The on-line jury is divided. Most concluded that he was guilty of poor judgment, not criminal intent. Some say the case has killed the hacker ethic. "If I saw someone on the Internet with a security weakness, at this point I would be reluctant to act the Good Samaritan and report it," said Jeffrey Kegler, an independent software consultant in Sunnyvale Calif. "If I saw weakness in Intel's machine, I'd keep it to myself." ETH_ic? (7 kb)