Legal and Ethical Ground Rules

• Authorization: only analyze samples provided or explicitly approved for this course. Do not hunt for live malware in the wild for class.
• CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) and state law: accessing systems without authorization is a crime. The skills you learn are powerful and regulated.
• No deployment: writing a keylogger for a lab is education; running it against a real person is a felony.
• Academic integrity: your analysis and write-ups must be your own. Cite tools and sources; do not copy another student's report.
• Responsible disclosure: if you ever find a real vulnerability, report it — do not exploit it.