Gray-Hat Hacking Essay

In the early days of computing, a hacker was primarily referred to as a computer guru, someone who is extremely technical with a high expertise in computer also known as “Expert Programmers”. Nevertheless, as technology is advancing at a face pace, hacking has adopted a completely different definition. The modern definition is someone who access a computer system primarily to steal or destroy information. Hacking has caused major harm in the realm of technology. Over the years, hackers have become much more lethal in their craft. They manage to break into complex information systems from entities such as banks, government agencies, and private businesses. Furthermore, they often manipulate their victims through social engineering in order to obtain financial benefits. Hackers hold different label such as: black hat hacker and white hat hacker in which all have their own motives.

The proficiency and efficacy of the cyberspace in its application in accounting, finance, system designs, manufacturing etc., cannot be denied nor neglected. The reality of the twenty-first century is simple; no organization can survive without the adoption and implementation of the mechanism of information technology to their area of business. On the contrary perspective, there are several challenges that are associated with the cyberspace, among which is majorly cyber security. Recently the hackers’ activity has really skyrocketed and has become a major concern for organizations, states and federal governments and even international organizations. Several regulatory schemes are put in place to mitigate the activities of hackers across the globe.

Hacker are people who use computer to gain unauthorized access to the data .In computer networking, hacking is any technical effort to manipulate the normal behaviour of network connections and connected systems. According to Mitchell, hacker is any person engaged in hacking (Mitchell, 2015) .There are a few types of hacker known to exist which are black hat hacker, the white hat hacker and the grey hat hacker. However, this paper focuses on the black hat hacker only. Black hat hackers are also known as crackers or dark-side hackers who have advanced computer knowledge with intention to break the internet security. The term of “black hat” is given because it comes from old western’s belief that people wear black hat are usually bad guys. In

Merriam-Webster defines Hacker as, a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage. But what if I told you that having a hacker is necessary? Ethical Hacking is paramount to the security of our Information Technologies (IT). The task of testing your computers and network for security vulnerabilities and plugging the vulnerabilities you find before the opposition gets a chance to exploit them. Without having the ability to do what devious personnel can do inside your IT, you will never fully understand the holes in your security.

As technology is used worldwide, it is in no way hard to get your hands on, or learn how to use computers etc. One of the most significant problems with cybercrime is it’s secretive nature; many protection devices which can be cracked will not pick up that they have been, therefore the majority of cybercrime will go unnoticed for a substantial amount of time. Combined with the world wide web, hackers can use the computers to gain information from any organisation around the world, penetrating even the most impenetrable organisations to get what they want, highlighting how technology has led to the process of globalization within the criminal world.

Linton (2011, p.44) stated that hacking of network of common users and attacking their personal computers is one of the most threatening problems at present. It is happening in every second that results in a loss in several ways like loss of credentials, personal information etcetera. Although the use of personal computers and the internet has been increased rapidly, numbers of users who are the expert and have good knowledge to tackle the matters are very rare. In addition, time, as well as required equipment to protect hacking, is also very.

Times have changed what was known as organized crime has been replaced by Cybercrimes (Heists: Cybercrimes with Ben Hammersley). Cybercrimes have risen dramatically in recent years and have become a major issue the United States and company’s face today jeopardizing as well as threatening the critical infrastructure of America (Cyberwar Threat, 2005). Sadly, the status quo of cyber security is very unstable with the advancements and growth which has put most individuals and businesses into an enormous threat (Agustina, 2015).

Chapter 9 of Beyond Sovereignty discusses the expansion of cyberspace and its response to globalization. Cyberattacks and other problems arise within cyberspace which can range from minor inconveniences to a national security problem. These attacks are dangerous because of the vastness of the Internet which makes it hard to pinpoint the exact motive of a hacker. Also, constantly evolving technology leads to new ways of infiltrating. Cyberattacks come in the form of hacking, virus-spreading, and information operations. As dependence of technology increases, more terrorist organizations use the Internet as a way to plan and carry operations. For example, in 2007, Estonia’s entire Internet infrastructure was attacked by the Russians. The denial-of-service

When considering the technological advances over the past 50 years, the Internet has undoubtedly had the greatest impact on everyday life of developed economies and its citizens. The world has become smaller, societies interconnected, and the pace of global integration dramatically increased since the introduction of the Internet. As people and information become increasingly integrated around the world, physical borders between nations are no longer sufficient to restrict access to information and sensitive data. This integrated world allows for malicious cyber actors to advance strategic

The Most Dangerous Cyber Criminals Of All Time is a article by Luis Fran. This article uses the story of three hacker to describe why cybercrime is a dangerous social issues. Fran repeatedly use the term “hackers”

Hacking is a relatively new technique to describe gaining unauthorized access to a network or computing device. A negative connotation has always been associated with the term. However, in order to catch hackers law enforcement will often reverse engineer the same methods that they use. Hacking has proven to become a major challenge for law enforcement. Device and network intrusions are not easily accomplished. The skills needed to perform a hack requires a succinct knowledge of computers and networking which can take years to fully understand. Society tends to ignore the intricacies of computers and often leave themselves exposed to potential invasions. Since a majority of the public are unaware of protecting themselves, illegal hackers can thrive knowing most people are possible targets.

Cyber crime spans not only state and national boundaries, but the international boundaries as well. At the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, in a workshop devoted to the issues of crimes related to computer networks, cybercrime was broken into two categories and defined thus:

Thesis : Contrary to popular belief, not only do you not have to be smart to be a hacker, you do not even need to know much about computers.

Prevalent to the current trend now is the dependency of the society on Information technology and communication systems. Every aspect of human life is one way or the other linked and controlled by information technology tools. The importance of information technology cannot be over emphasized as its unavailability could lead to a form of disaster or the other. Pivotal infrastructures like finance, healthcare, education and security are driven by information technology. However, information technology and its benefits are accompanied by vulnerabilities and risks that can be exploited by people with the necessary technical skills. Individuals like ‘Hackers’ and ‘Cyber Terrorist’ can cause disruption to information systems, commit financial fraud and also attack computers and networks. These attacks and disruptions could result to violence against people and properties. In some cases, death, serious injuries and severe economic loss could occur as a result of these attacks.

For some individuals, hacking can be a hobby they like to undertake in order to analyze how many computers or the systems they can gain access to. While hacking seems harmless, there are those who do this vice maliciously so that they can get access to customer/ client information, the details of credit cards, their passwords, email addresses and identity fraud (Riem, 2001). Having this unauthorized access to these information warrants an arrest, and should the criminals be found, they are liable for their crimes.