Counter culture / Hackers Essay -- essays research papers

wherefore Hackers Do The Things They Do?Hackers. You know them as gangly kids with radiation tans caused by too numerous late nights in preliminary of a information processing system screen. Evil bes who kick in the power to wipe expose your credit rating, gougecel your cable TV, effectuate your insurance premiums, and raid your neighborly credential pension. Individuals who always avert their look and mumble under their touch more(prenominal) or less black helicopters and CIA transmissions. Paranoid, social deviants who could bewilder World War triplet from the privacy of their bedrooms. Or so the mainstream media would consent you believe. In reality, most hack writers atomic number 18 ordinary spate with a keen deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and quite a little of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a galley slave, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you coffee in the morning. Not all cyber-terrorists ar dangerous and out to destroy parentage or damage lives. The vision of the general public toward hackers is mixed. A modern CNN-poll shows 33% of respondents labeling hackers as "useful," 17% seeing them "as a menace," and the mass (45%) seeing hackers as "both" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999). wherefore do hackers go by means of all the trouble to do what they do? Most people in society do not overlook the time to break into computer systems. It does not have much compendium to them. Why then do certain people spend so much of their time and nix accomplishing these feats of technological wizardry? What is the cause that turns those more often than not above-average intelligent people to betroth a abominable career, and destroy their differently very successful careers? Why do they commit these computer link up crimes as an obses sion? on that point are probably as many a(prenominal) answers to that question as there are hackers (maybe more). It is important to realize that these people are individuals with their own hopes, fears, desires, and everything else that comes with be human. However, there are general patterns to the want behind the computer hackers suit to manipulate technology. The problem of hacker motif is probably one of the more interesting questions concerning this sub-culture (Hacker-Bible, 1995).Hackers rarely use schooling to gain wealth. This is not considered socially acceptable. C... ... models from the legitimate information security community. period it is wrong to stereotype hackers as evil people with malicious criminal intentions, they cannot be stereotyped as compassionate freedom fighters as the hackers similar to see themselves. Hackers must excessively realize that the actions of criminals leave always glow poorly on the hacker community as a whole, until the hacke r community tries to police itself, which will never happen. Their actions are by definition, criminal. They can suffer consequences, which include being criminally prosecuted and hated by the information security community.The information security vocation must also be more visible in a way that gets children, before the hacker community gets them. Hacking can be very exciting for a stripling who can be considered a hero by others. Somehow the profession must get in concert to teach parents and schools that they must teach their children about hacking, before somebody else does. officiate CitedChaos Computer Club (January 05, 1995) Hacker-BibleThe recent Hackers lexicon (Online Edition, 1st edition) World Wide vanehttp//www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_toc.htmlSUBMITTED BY Bzer118 Counter culture / Hackers Essay -- essays inquiry papers Why Hackers Do The Things They Do?Hackers. You know them as gangly kids with radiation tans caused by too many late n ights in front of a computer screen. Evil beings who have the power to wipe out your credit rating, cancel your cable TV, raise your insurance premiums, and raid your social security pension. Individuals who always avert their eyes and mumble under their breath about black helicopters and CIA transmissions. Paranoid, social deviants who could start World War III from the privacy of their bedrooms. Or so the mainstream media would have you believe. In reality, most hackers are ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and plenty of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a hacker, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you coffee in the morning. Not all hackers are dangerous and out to destroy business or damage lives. The view of the general public toward hackers is mixed. A recent CNN-poll shows 33% of re spondents labeling hackers as "useful," 17% seeing them "as a menace," and the majority (45%) seeing hackers as "both" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999). Why do hackers go through all the trouble to do what they do? Most people in society do not spend the time to break into computer systems. It does not have much appeal to them. Why then do certain people spend so much of their time and energy accomplishing these feats of technological wizardry? What is the cause that turns those mostly above-average intelligent people to pursue a criminal career, and destroy their otherwise very successful careers? Why do they commit these computer related crimes as an obsession?There are probably as many answers to that question as there are hackers (maybe more). It is important to realize that these people are individuals with their own hopes, fears, desires, and everything else that comes with being human. However, there are general patterns to the motivation behind the com puter hackers drive to manipulate technology. The problem of hacker motivation is probably one of the more interesting questions concerning this sub-culture (Hacker-Bible, 1995).Hackers rarely use information to gain wealth. This is not considered socially acceptable. C... ... models from the legitimate information security community.While it is wrong to stereotype hackers as evil people with malicious criminal intentions, they cannot be stereotyped as compassionate freedom fighters as the hackers like to see themselves. Hackers must also realize that the actions of criminals will always reflect poorly on the hacker community as a whole, until the hacker community tries to police itself, which will never happen. Their actions are by definition, criminal. They can suffer consequences, which include being criminally prosecuted and hated by the information security community.The information security profession must also be more visible in a way that gets children, before the hacker co mmunity gets them. Hacking can be very exciting for a teenager who can be considered a hero by others. Somehow the profession must get together to teach parents and schools that they must teach their children about hacking, before somebody else does.Work CitedChaos Computer Club (January 05, 1995) Hacker-BibleThe New Hackers Dictionary (Online Edition, 1st edition) World Wide Webhttp//www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_toc.htmlSUBMITTED BY Bzer118