http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/01/cfaa_reform_how_laws_are_determining_the_ethics_of_code.html

In late July 2014, the information security world was on edge. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University—who work “closely with the (US) Department of Homeland Security”—were scheduled to give a talk at the Black Hat USA information security conference on a simple method to “de-anonymize” Tor users. Many were skeptical. Tor, after all, was a respected and widely used tool for online anonymity, employed by activists, dissidents, journalists, and yes, criminals too, to cloak their activities from the prying eyes of state authorities at home and abroad; even Edward Snowden trusted its protection. The idea that there was an undisclosed vulnerability that could be exploited “on a budget” to cheaply and easily unveil the identity of Tor users, was difficult to believe. And yet, the security researchers in question, from the Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT, unit of the CMU Software Engineering Institute, seemed credible. So, people withheld judgment and waited for the talk.