Alexander Urbelis, a partner at the Blackstone Law Group in New York, said Tuesday's court decision could lead to more innovation in cybersecurity research.
"This ruling makes it possible for cybersecurity researchers to virtualize and test distinct components of third-party software for security vulnerabilities, which is something that has been lacking in the security community in part because of the fear of legal liability," he said. For instance, Urbelis, who was once acting chief security officer for the NFL, said "unfettered vulnerability hunting" could help stop big "supply chain" hacks such as the one that affected
Solar Winds. That recently discovered hack allegedly gave Russian hackers access to a vast trove of U.S. government data.
