Comment by ryandrake
3 hours ago
This kind of story makes me wonder what's the most popular/valuable domain I can take control of simply by being convincing over the phone. Sounds tempting!
I can't even log in to most web sites anymore without doing a side-trip to my E-mail inbox, "for enhanced security," but these clowns let you just take a domain by asking nicely!
In many countries that’s probably illegal, even if it’s easy. Just because a crime is easy to commit doesn’t mean it isn’t a crime.
So, keep it hypothetical.
I can’t think of a jurisdiction where it would not be illegal. The “I was only testing your security, in fact I should get rewarded for it” defense never works outside of nerd fantasies.
Be careful, I assume there are laws on the books that normal people wouldn't know about but a large enough target could use if you tried to pull this on them (or you could find yourself on the receiving end of a civil lawsuit).