--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is only the inadequacy of the criminal…" description: "\"It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.\" — Ken Thompson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg" --- # It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves… ![“It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.” quote by Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg) > “It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.” [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Legal loopholes unintentionally protect hackers, highlighting flaws in criminal law that fail to address modern cyber threats. **In simple terms:** Weak laws let hackers avoid serious punishment. Key Takeaway Advocate stronger, updated cybercrime statutes. Themes law technology security ethics policy Mood critical serious Type essay technical When to use this quote - corporate security - government legislation - academic debate Key Concepts criminal code hacker culture legal reform Questions to Reflect On - How should law keep pace with tech? - What balances security and freedom? A Different Perspective Legal reforms may be slow and face political resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Cybersecurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cybersecurity/) [Hackers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hackers/) [Inadequacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inadequacy/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Prosecution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosecution/) ## Related quotes > [Religious doctrines do not and clearly cannot be adopted as the criminal code of a state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/religious-doctrines-do-not-and-clearly-cannot-be-adopted-as-the/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [“In the past few years, he’d worked as a part-time policeman in a string of Kansas cow towns. Each time he was sworn in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/in-the-past-few-years-he-d-worked-as-a-part-time-policeman-in-a/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [“Prosecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly-marked feature of all law-religious, or religions established by law.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/prosecution-is-not-an-original-feature-in-any-religion-but-it-is/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There are two things that matter in a criminal investigation of a subject.What did the person do, and when they did that thing, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-comey/there-are-two-things-that-matter-in-a-criminal-investigation-of-a/) [James Comey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-comey/) > [The great end of prudence is to give cheerfulness to those hours which splendour cannot gild, and acclamation cannot exhilarate; those soft intervals of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-great-end-of-prudence-is-to-give-cheerfulness-to-those-hours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Some readers may find it a curious or even unscientific endeavour to craft a criminological model of organised abuse based on the testimony of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/some-readers-may-find-it-a-curious-or-even-unscientific-endeavour-to/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [In the Goldstone Report, Israeli perpetrators of possible crimes against humanity were made subject to prosecution and punishment, although the geopolitical leverage of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/in-the-goldstone-report-israeli-perpetrators-of-possible-crimes/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [I, you know, am all over the place — every category of pictures I have made, good, bad or indifferent. I could not make,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-wilder/i-you-know-am-all-over-the-place-every-category-of-pictures-i-have/) [Billy Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-wilder/) > [If the prosecution of crime is to be conducted with so little regard for that protection which centuries of English law have given to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/if-the-prosecution-of-crime-is-to-be-conducted-with-so-little-regard/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) > [Let me have my tax money go for my protection and not for my prosecution. Let my tax money go for the protection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-milk/let-me-have-my-tax-money-go-for-my-protection-and-not-for-my/) [Harvey Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-milk/) > [Major international interventions are doomed unless the US is directly or indirectly involved. But if American politicians, officials and servicemen are to be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/major-international-interventions-are-doomed-unless-the-us-is/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [On the one hand, you don't want to disrupt the nation with what might look like a vindictive prosecution, even though it might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-giuliani/on-the-one-hand-you-don-t-want-to-disrupt-the-nation-with-what-might/) [Rudy Giuliani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-giuliani/) > [I think that compared to other politicians who have been put in jail in the past, compared to the human-rights activists in history who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/i-think-that-compared-to-other-politicians-who-have-been-put-in-jail/) [Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/) > [While the prosecution has said this is about the defendants lies, one worries that those lies already have been buried under too much discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berg/while-the-prosecution-has-said-this-is-about-the-defendants-lies-one/) [David Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berg/) > [Printers shall be liable to legal prosecution for printing and publishing false facts injurious to the party prosecuting: but they shall be under no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/printers-shall-be-liable-to-legal-prosecution-for-printing-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More by Ken Thompson > [One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throwing-away-1-000-lines-of-code/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [There's a lot of power in executing data - generating data and executing data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/there-s-a-lot-of-power-in-executing-data-generating-data-and/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [One is that the perfect garden can be created overnight, which it can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-is-that-the-perfect-garden-can-be-created-overnight-which-it-can-t/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throwing-away-1000-lines-of-code/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I am a programmer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-am-a-programmer/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [It's always good to take an orthogonal view of something. It develops ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-s-always-good-to-take-an-orthogonal-view-of-something-it-develops/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I view Linux as something that's not Microsoft - a backlash against Microsoft, no more and no less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-view-linux-as-something-that-s-not-microsoft-a-backlash-against/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I think the major good idea in Unix was its clean and simple interface: open, close, read, and write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-think-the-major-good-idea-in-unix-was-its-clean-and-simple/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [Grant, if we edited Fortran, I assume that you'd put a column thing in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/grant-if-we-edited-fortran-i-assume-that-you-d-put-a-column-thing-in/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [If you want to go somewhere, goto is the best way to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/if-you-want-to-go-somewhere-goto-is-the-best-way-to-get-there/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I don't think there are many people up in research who have strong ideas about things that they haven't really had experience with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-don-t-think-there-are-many-people-up-in-research-who-have-strong/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [We tried to avoid, you know, records. We were told over and over that was probably the most serious mistake and the reason was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/we-tried-to-avoid-you-know-records-we-were-told-over-and-over-that/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [In fact, we started off with two or three different shells and the shell had life of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/in-fact-we-started-off-with-two-or-three-different-shells-and-the/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [The average gardener probably knows little about what is going on in his or her garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/the-average-gardener-probably-knows-little-about-what-is-going-on-in/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [I still have a full-time day job, which is why it took me five years to write An Ear to the Ground, and why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/i-still-have-a-full-time-day-job-which-is-why-it-took-me-five-years/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) [Explore all 41 Ken Thompson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) ## More Code quotes > [At the deepest level, all living things that have ever been looked at have the same DNA code. And many of the same genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/at-the-deepest-level-all-living-things-that-have-ever-been-looked-at/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [It is no secret that I have read 'The Da Vinci Code' several times. I genuinely believe that 'The Da Vinci Code' and 'Angels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashwin-sanghi/it-is-no-secret-that-i-have-read-the-da-vinci-code-several-times-i/) [Ashwin Sanghi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashwin-sanghi/) > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/one-of-my-most-productive-days-was-throwing-away-1-000-lines-of-code/) [Ken Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/) > [Writing code means always having to say you're sorry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ford/writing-code-means-always-having-to-say-you-re-sorry/) [Paul Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ford/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [I loved 'Chicago Code;' I watched that a lot. It was great because it really captured the city - I'm from Chicago, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessy-schram/i-loved-chicago-code-i-watched-that-a-lot-it-was-great-because-it/) [Jessy Schram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessy-schram/) > [I kind of pride myself on coming onto things that are well-oiled machines and finding a way to bring what I bring and fit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/i-kind-of-pride-myself-on-coming-onto-things-that-are-well-oiled/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [When we're done simplifying the tax code, getting the lobbyist carve outs our of the tax code, lowering our rates and letting people have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/when-we-re-done-simplifying-the-tax-code-getting-the-lobbyist-carve/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [The tax code is 10 times the size of the Bible with none of the good news.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/the-tax-code-is-10-times-the-size-of-the-bible-with-none-of-the-good/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [The Cheney team had, for example, technological supremacy over the National Security Council staff. That is to say, they could read their e-mails. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wilkerson/the-cheney-team-had-for-example-technological-supremacy-over-the/) [Lawrence Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wilkerson/) > [ \[T\]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/t-he-tax-code-has-been-piling-up-year-after-year-a-symbol-of/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [In open source, you really have to be near the watershed to have an impact on the source code. Customers want to be near…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-fenton/in-open-source-you-really-have-to-be-near-the-watershed-to-have-an/) [Peter Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-fenton/) > [We can use our art to become political, to become something you want to talk about. We make clothes, but we have the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-rousteing/we-can-use-our-art-to-become-political-to-become-something-you-want/) [Olivier Rousteing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-rousteing/) > [Your zip code or your income level should not dictate your access to healthy drinking water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-padilla/your-zip-code-or-your-income-level-should-not-dictate-your-access-to/) [Alex Padilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-padilla/) [Browse all 1,662 Code quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/code/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Thompson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-criminal-code-that-saves-the-hackers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Code" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-criminal-code-that-saves-the-hackers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b9/ken-thompson-15903_code_it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-crimina_999328.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is only the inadequacy of the criminal code that saves the hackers from very serious prosecution.” — Ken Thompson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ken Thompson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-thompson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is only the inadequacy of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-criminal-code-that-saves-the-hackers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-thompson/it-is-only-the-inadequacy-of-the-criminal-code-that-saves-the-hackers/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```