# Is it illegal if I hack a site but don't do anything?

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/is-it-illegal-if-i-hack-a-site-but-dont-do-anything/165641>\
**Category:** random\
**Created:** [October 12, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/is-it-illegal-if-i-hack-a-site-but-dont-do-anything/165641 "2005-10-12T19:03:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MTsoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@MTsoul](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MTsoul)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/is-it-illegal-if-i-hack-a-site-but-dont-do-anything/165641/1 "2005-10-12T19:03:25Z")

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This question has been troubling me for days. I’m into network programming and I want to see if I can take advantage of certain exploits on websites. Is it illegal if I hack them (say gain access to certain functions) but don’t do ANYTHING at all? So that I leave no trace of when/where/who/what i was doing and doing with. Technically, even if they sue me I won’t be caught, but I just don’t want to get into that trouble. Is it illegal as long as I don’t do any damage?