Have you ever been a victim of a cyber crime? Something as simple as a weird pop up that won't go away? Or maybe something a little bit more serious like your personal web page gets hi-jacked? All this "malicious" damage that causes you much grief isn't so much the work of a hacker, per se, but more the work of a "cracker" or a "script kiddie". Now you're confused right? Well let's just say everyone who knows how manipulate a computer isn't doing it on bad and evil terms, like writing a virus to deploy on a certain date to permanently delete certain file extensions. But maybe they're the people sitting hours on end to deploy a fix for that certain virus someone else is writing, or safeguarding a local bank's network to make sure that virus …show more content…
These are the people setting the very negative example of computer literate people around the world. They know no morals, or ethical value behind what they do, but to compromise, and cause havoc upon the end user computing world. Hackers fall into two categories: Black Hat and White Hat Hackers. While Black Hat hackers illegally crack into systems for malicious reasons, their White Hat counterparts probe and test for security flaws and IT research (Black Hat/White Hat). The term "hacker" can be explained as a person who enjoys learning the details of a computer system and how to stretch their capabilities beyond a person who learns the bare minimum to use a computer (Palmer). By this definition, a hacker can be anyone who is willing to expand their knowledge with a computer to better benefit themselves, or more importantly, others. Many people disregard the ethical sense to hacking and believe all forms of hacking to be unjust, which is untrue, but hacking can be very beneficial. White Hat, or Ethical Hacking can be very useful by having security professionals attempt to break in to explore and try to exploiting systems to discover a loop-hole or security flaw in a network. This is similar to having independent auditors come into an organization to verify its bookkeeping records. These White Hat hackers are usually experts in their field and use the
White hats are the opposite of black hats. They are the so called “ethical hackers”. They use their knowledge and skills to protect against black hats, protect systems, and create new and stronger ways to combat cyber-attacks.
Hacking is gaining of access to systems without any permission to access. This includes the act computer geeks looking for some fame, as well as criminals wanting to steal personal information and sell it on black markets
A white hat hacker’s purpose is to discover problems with computer systems thatwill give black hat hackers the opportunity to hack into victims computers. Their purpose is to create better more improved computer systems to prevent this from happening or to catch the black hat hackers. A black hat hacker is a person whose purpose is to steal, destroy or damage their victims. They use the computer system to commit a potential crime to fulfil a self-purpose such as money laundering, drug trafficking, blackmail, terrorism
Here the hacker believes in his mind that his acts are really not doing any great harm, in his own mind he is really doing justice. As hackers hack into businesses, their belief is there just borrowing their site for a while, and if hacker causes any damage, big businesses are able to afford it.
These individuals are often malicious and have many means at their disposal for breaking into a [computer] system”(Dictionary.com). The third type is called a phreaker. “A phreaker is a [hacker] who engages in the art of phreaking” : [frddk-ing phone phreak] Phreaking is the art and science of cracking the telephone network so as, for example, to make free long-distance phone calls”(Dictionary.com).
Common behavioral traits of these attackers is that they minimize or miscomprehend the ramifications of their activity, rationalizing that their service is really a benefit to the organization because they could identify security loop holes. (Fötinger & Ziegler, 2004). It’s important to note that not all hackers are criminals, there’s a group of ethical or white hat hackers that execute pre-approved attacks for the good of the security landscape of the
There are thousands of ways to hack into a single or networked computer. All hacker does not have a notorious reason for trying to access a network. Many hackers are paid by a company to find its network vulnerabilities. These hackers are known as white hackers or pen testers. The most popular way to hack into a computer is with a certain attack named brute force.
They have formed their own subcultures and hold many different beliefs about the information that is stored in personal computers. Said best by J. Thomas McEwen in the article Computer Ethics many hackers believe that "computerized data [is] free and should be accessible to anyone (McEwen 1991; 8-11). A subculture is a group a group of people who share a different set of beliefs that differ significantly from the larger society (Kendall; 604). Besides forming subcultures, many hackers have learned their behavior from other hackers. Besides the fact that many hackers learn, their ways from other hackers many after arrested are formally labeled as a hacker and a deviant, those who violate cultural norms and beliefs (Kendall; 598) The labeling theory suggests that deviants are those have been labeled as such by others (Kendall; 166). As written by David Pitch ford in the London magazine, Focus, one hacker after being arrested was not deterred, he instead became a more active and in "92 became cyberspaces first megastar Pitchford; pages 10-13)." It was only after his second arrest that he stopped offences.
8. Political Activism: Hacktivists’ attacks may be applied to governments or organizations when they vent out very strong political views by attacking the entity’s communications system.
Ethical hacking is the testing of access to a system, also known as white hacking. The process entails similar tools, methods, and techniques that most hackers employ though with a legal aspect to it. The goal of hacking is done with the permission of the intended target with a goal to show varied areas of weaknesses from the hacker’s perspective. It is part of information risk management allowing for security advancement. The process makes sure that security protections are valid. Computer security is vital as most companies can be at the threat of harmful practices (Baloch, 2014, 43). This can be like the loss of vital information,
"Cyber Warfare is the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes" (Oxford Dictionary, 2016). While this definition may seem fitting on a global basis the idea of cyber crime can encompass any valuable information of an individual, company, government, or military entity. The term hacker came about in the early 80 's defining a couple of people where were proficient at manipulating computers. However, in 2016 the Oxford Dictionary defines hacker as "a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data '. In the early stages of cyber crime hackers spread programs called worms, computer viruses and
I first learned about computer hacking from an article featured in the New York Times magazine several years ago. It described the life of members of a hacking group known as L0pht. They were neither benign nor malicious; they would simply look for holes in software products and post the results on the
Outsider attackers often called hackers because they gain access to system without authorization or permission from the owners or legitimate user. With information technology, comes increase risk of fraud and information theft. Hackers can steel sensitive information from one organization and sell it to a
Computers around the world are systematically being victimized by rampant hacking. This hacking is not only widespread, but is being executed so flawlessly that the attackers compromise a system, steal everything of value and completely erase their tracks within 20 minutes. The goal of the ethical hacker is to help the organization take preemptive measures against malicious attacks by attacking the system himself; all the while staying within legal limits. This philosophy stems from the proven practice of trying to catch a
A diffuse group of people often called “hackers” has been characterised as unethical, irresponsible, and a serious danger to society for actions related to breaking into computer systems. In this essay I try to construct a picture of what is and includes a computer crime as well as a portray of hackers, their concerns, and the way in which hacking takes place. What I intend to argue is that, in their majority, hackers are learners and explorers who want to help rather than cause damage. Furthermore, my research also suggests that the general practice of hacking is a part of larger conflicts that we are experiencing at every level of society and business in an information age in which many people are not