Customer uses product to harm others, even though it wasn't meant to. Can the harmed person(s) sue?

D

dgramop

Guest
Jurisdiction
Virginia
Hello!

I am building an ethical hacking/penetration testing product that can easily be abused to invade other's privacy. They are intercept internet traffic in a given network, along with other functions (like voice recording etc.). It's sold so that people can learn to counteract these kinds of attacks. There are plenty of companies that do similar things, like Rapid7 (Metasploit) as just one of the many examples. They sell software, while I sell (or at least plan to sell) hardware. There are plenty of penetration-testing-software-selling companies that stay legal, but will my device stay legal?

Assuming I put a disclaimer (I.E. "educational purposes only") and have people agree not to abuse the product, including abusing by installing it somewhere they are not allowed to. If someone were to purchase this product, after agreeing not to abuse it then abuses it, or purchase the product, and later sell it to someone who then abuses it, would I be liable?

Could I get sued for aiding/abetting a crime?

Should I require them not to resell the device, or should I require them to have people who buy the product read the terms?

Best,
D
 
People ask this kind of question all the time.

Long story short: Yes, you can be sued.

You can have all the disclaimers and waivers in the world, even an LLC or corporation, and NOTHING prevents a lawsuit from being handed to you.

Once that happens you need a lawyer and experts to defend you and that alone can cost you tens of thousands of dollars and drive you into bankruptcy even if you aren't liable.

The solution is to buy the proper high limit products liability insurance and then you don't have to worry about who uses your product to do what and whether you are liable or not.
 
An elderly woman smashes her husband's head with a hammer while he sleeps. Is the hammer maker responsible?

The short answer is no.
So long as the device you intend to produce is not prohibited by law you would not have a problem. Includung notices and disclaimers certainly doesn't hurt. Sure, people might sue, but it should be directed at the person who committed the offense.
 
An elderly woman smashes her husband's head with a hammer while he sleeps. Is the hammer maker responsible?

The short answer is no.

True.

But that doesn't stop anybody from suing the hammer maker.

"Gee Jack, can that really happen?"

It sure can. For decades the victims of gun violence have been suing gun manufacturers. It got so bad that 32 states (maybe more by now) passed legislation granting immunity to gun manufacturers.
 
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