I find it useful to compare the reactions of O'Reilly and Intel. Schwartz worked for both (he wrote Learning Perl and co-authored Programming Perl for O'Reilly and made them plenty of money). He cracked the passwords of both companies without first getting permission.
O'Reilly's sysadmin told him off for not getting permission, and told him not to do it again, but used his results to let people with weak passwords know to change them.
Intel's sysadmin started collecting a dossier on Schwartz and ultimately Intel pushed for state criminal charges against him.
O'Reilly's sysadmin testified in Schwartz's defense that he was an overly eager guy with no nefarious intent. So - kinda-sus or not - Intel could have resolved this with a dressing down, or even termination if they were really unhappy. Intel _chose_ to go nuclear, and invoke the Oregon computer crime laws, and demand the state prosecute him.
O'Reilly's sysadmin told him off for not getting permission, and told him not to do it again, but used his results to let people with weak passwords know to change them.
Intel's sysadmin started collecting a dossier on Schwartz and ultimately Intel pushed for state criminal charges against him.
O'Reilly's sysadmin testified in Schwartz's defense that he was an overly eager guy with no nefarious intent. So - kinda-sus or not - Intel could have resolved this with a dressing down, or even termination if they were really unhappy. Intel _chose_ to go nuclear, and invoke the Oregon computer crime laws, and demand the state prosecute him.