Hackers.

[IWTBF115]

This is a topic that pops up with my father and I a lot. Since we of course grew up in different times, we have different views. But, our views have never differed as much as they do about this.
He is a firm believer that hackers are evil, self-righteous, Neanderthals. He thinks they should all be locked up and never let out.
I am a firm believer that hackers have the ability to do harm, but also do good. I think it is a matter of choice and that the person decides.
Do you guys have any thoughts about hacking or hackers? And how they might change and infuluence the world.
With the whole Sony thing, and the recent Xbox hacking, you guys must have some kind of opinion.

[wfms]

well i believe your rights, but your father point of view is understandable because hacker only seem to work for themselves. If hackers were really interested in helping the world you would use your knowledge of coding are a way to help the internet. my favorite quote from the movie sky fall is when the Q tells bond that i could do more damage from a computer in a day then you could in a whole year. And its true. Anyways i guess what i am trying to say is that you dont become a hacker because you want to help people, Its later on when you decide if you want to help or cause mayhem.

[vittyvirus]

There are good (gray or white hat) hackers and bad (black hat) hackers.
Hackers were originally people much interested in Computer Science. These were the guys who developed networking, BBSs, virtual reality, and many of the things taken for granted today. They learned for the sheer joy of learning and pushing the boundaries of what was and was not possible. The Hackers _were_ the computer revolution.
A cracker is somebody who has the goal of doing deliberate damage. They may have similar skills, but a Hacker would generally only cause damage by accident. Crackers are scum, and it irks me immensely to hear them called 'hackers'.

[SethfromMI]

I guess it depends on what exactly the hacker is trying to accomplish. I think generally though there is a negative connotation to hackers

[qwfoi]

I believe that white-hat hackers should be allowed to hack but black-hat hackers should be locked up unless it was in defence. I personally have 7GB of hacking tools just in case. :) I have some friends that develop viruses so just in case they test out on me I have to be ready... Though some black-hat hackers may be doing it to feed their families so they need to steal credit cards, etc. It depends on the person really :)

[Silicate Wielder]

There are good (gray or white hat) hackers and bad (black hat) hackers.
Hackers were originally people much interested in Computer Science. These were the guys who developed networking, BBSs, virtual reality, and many of the things taken for granted today. They learned for the sheer joy of learning and pushing the boundaries of what was and was not possible. The Hackers _were_ the computer revolution.
A cracker is somebody who has the goal of doing deliberate damage. They may have similar skills, but a Hacker would generally only cause damage by accident. Crackers are scum, and it irks me immensely to hear them called 'hackers'.

You could define me as one of those original hackers in a sense, I do alot of experimentation with whatever ideas pop into my mind, neural networking engines, database systems, AIs, conceptual ideas, etc. so again, in a sense, I'm like one of those original hackers that invented a lot of what we have today.

Now, in terms of modern hackers, there are those who hack and inform companies of their system flaws, those who do it just for fun and don't do damange, and then there are the ones you want to watch out, those who will infect your computer with viruses, causes damages to companies, and create internet mayhem.

So, there are good ones, bad ones, and the one who are still deciding their path.

[Sir Enigma]

Wherever I go, hacking topics are mentioned.
Believe me people when I say this very sincerely.

Ignorance is bliss.

Leave it be.

[Starsong]

There are people that work as hackers (for good) that attempt to break into security systems and then upgrade it to prevent it from happening.

'Evil' hacking exploits are the ones that are most publicized though.

[randomuser123]

The press, in their usual slightly deluded fashion, has painted an evil picture of hackers. The so-called hackers that are portrayed in today's media, are what are more properly referred to as crackers. Crackers are people that hack, but for personal and material gain. These are often referred to as black-hats. Grey and white-hat hackers on the other hand are either working for the benefit of society or for the challenge and their own personal enjoyment.

I personally don't think that we should be hacking into anything, unless there is a very good reason to do so (for example, I don't mind the government accessing North Korean computer systems in order to help defend ourselves in the event of a war). On the other hand, there is a lot of information, such as that released by Edward Snowden, which really should be out in the public eye. I understand the importance of secrecy within the government, but the public have a right to know to some degree what level they are being spied on.

I personally think that the way that the US government are trying to sentence Snowden, for example, is barbaric (though I disagree with the death penalty on the whole) and I do not think for one second that this is a just and fair punishment for what should arguably not even be a crime. On the other hand, we must make sure that people are not attempting to hack into government systems left, right and centre - this would cause chaos.

I think your father has failed to realise that the governments around the world, including your own government, have huge teams of hackers - all attempting to breach the population's privacy.

I am personally a big advocate of technologies like Tor, since they give us some degree of privacy from hackers, both governments and individuals alike.


In short, I think that there is nothing wrong with hacking in its own right, however I think the world would be a better place if "test beds" were set up, with security equivalent to that of government or large corporation's systems, as this would give white and grey-hat hackers the opportunity to test their skills without the risk of any actual damage being done.