Legal implication in exploiting a security hole

Question

Please refer to the answer provided here.

Just wanted to understand what are the legal implication if someone really exploited such a security hole to disrupt the system. Will he be legally charged for such act, and what kind of punishment / penalty will be levied.

As Cyber laws differ from country to country, please refer to the location you are talking about.

Please note I dont have any of such ideas, this is just for the sake of understanding.

Answer 1

Without giving any legal background to back it up, it generally comes to this (in most cases) - yes, it is illegal, whether you disrupted it through a security hole or any other way. Otherwise, all hackers would have a field day, no?

Think of it like this - just because you found a way to withdraw money from a bank's safe, doesn't mean you should / are allowed to.

This principle is pretty much valid in most of the western world.