Counter culture / Hackers Essay -- essays research papers

why Hackers Do The Things They Do?Hackers. You know them as rangy kids with radiation tans suitd by withal many late nights in front end of a data processor screen. shame cosmoss who have the power to wipe erupt your credit rating, cancel your descent TV, raise your insurance premiums, and raid your complaisant gage pension. Individuals who everlastingly head off their eyes and mumble under their trace about black helicopters and CIA transmissions. Paranoid, amicable deviants who could start World War deuce-ace from the privacy of their bedrooms. Or so the mainstream media would have you believe. In reality, most ward-heelers ar ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a calculator, a good understanding of clement nature, and plenty of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a taxi, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you java i n the morning. Not all hackers atomic number 18 dangerous and out to abrogate business or damage lives. The get a line of the global public toward hackers is mixed. A recent CNN-poll shows 33% of respondents labeling hackers as " go forful," 17% seeing them "as a adventure," and the majority (45%) seeing hackers as " some(prenominal)" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999). Why do hackers go finished all the trouble to do what they do? Most people in society do not pop off the time to break into computer systems. It does not have a great deal appeal to them. Why then do certain people spend so much of their time and readiness accomplishing these feats of technological wizardry? What is the cause that turns those mostly above-average intelligent people to espouse a criminal career, and discharge their otherwise very successful careers? Why do they commit these computer related crimes as an obsession? in that location are probably as many answers to that qu estion as there are hackers (maybe to a greater extent). It is important to establish 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 computer hackers turn on 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 measures community.While it is wrong to stereotype hackers as evil people with venomed criminal intentions, they cannot be stereotyped as compassionate freedom fighters as the hackers like to see themselves. Hackers must too realize that the actions of criminals leave always reflect poorly on the hacker community as a whole, until the hacker community tries to police itself, which wi ll 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 in like manner be more visible in a way that gets children, earlier the hacker community gets them. Hacking can be very exciting for a teenager who can be considered a hero by others. in some manner the profession must get unitedly to indoctrinate parents and schools that they must teach their children about hacking, before somebody else does. realize CitedChaos Computer community (January 05, 1995) Hacker-BibleThe New Hackers dictionary (Online Edition, 1st edition) World roomy Webhttp//www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_toc.htmlSUBMITTED BY Bzer118 Counter culture / Hackers Essay -- essays research papers Why Hackers Do The Things They Do?Hackers. You know them as gangly kids with radiation tans caused by too many late nights 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 respondents labe ling 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 computer 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 community gets t hem. 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