The Is A Good Thing For Society?

First Himma’s argues that, to determine if an act of hacktivism is morally justified depends on how much harm is done. Himma’s first premise shows that there is a possibility that some acts of hacktivism potentially can be morally permissible, but often acts labeled as hacktivism are not. For example, a harmful act of hacktivism that should not be considered morally permissible by Himma’s standard was when Sony experienced one of the most impactful hacktivist acts by LulzSec in April, 2011. LulzSec is an anarchist group that came up with an effective strategy of using social media and clever

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 word hacking, usually associated with information technology, is a term used for the development of creative solutions for a problem by someone in a non-professional environment. With the introduction of personal computers and the internet, anyone could create solutions to problems in computer science. This led to the emergence of “hacker culture”, leading to the decentralization of computer industry (Hicks, 2014).

Despite Kenneth argues that hacktivism is morally impermissible due to its moral disvalue by referring that hacker are trying to get away from punishment and negatively affect innocent third party, I believe that non-malicious hacktivism is morally permissible. I will attack her points by arguing if the intellectual property rights is unnecessary, there will not be any legitimate punishments. Then from the utilitirism side, I will discuss the moral value or benefits of hacktivism is over its moral disvalue to the whole society.

In the last few years, the number of cyber-attacks happening in the world today has increased significantly and it is something that is not going to go away any time soon. In the most recent case that has happened, a group called the Impact Team has claimed to have complete access to Avid Life Media’s database for the website Ashley Madison. Throughout this entire case there are very few things that are ethical and legal. Besides, Avid Life Media pursuing the hackers for stealing private data, the only other action that I believe falls into this category are users pursuing legal action against Ashley Madison now for not fully deleting their data. If Ashley Madison had actually deleted most of their user’s data and only kept the metadata,

The social learning theory views hackers as individuals who are socialized into breaking rules through peer-association. A majority of hackers are young and learn from their friends in a type of communal environment. Studies show that this behavior takes place in a distinctive socio-cultural context and “communal” structure. Just like social learning takes place in the terrestrial world, it also takes place in the virtual world. Peer association and social learning in the hacking subculture takes place in both the terrestrial and virtual worlds. In the “terrestrial” world, hackers participate in organized conferenes, such as the annual DEFCON hacker gathering, at which knowledge, tools and tales are exchanged. Chapters of the 2600 hackers organization meet weekly in towns and cities across the US. In “virtual” or online settings, peer groups are formed and

This case study addresses the issue of a group of hackers that calls themselves “the impact team.” The group disagreed with the website Ashley Madison and hacked into their system and retrieved private information. Ashley Madison was a website that charged individuals money to engage in extramarital affairs. The impact team had contacted the people behind Ashley Madison, Avid Life Media and informed them that they were expected to shut down their website and that they would have thirty days to do so. However, the website was not taken down, and the impact team released customers’ information from the website. Personal information including names, credit card numbers, addresses, fees paid on the website and initial sign up dates was released

The film Killswitch was about the government trying to monopolize and control user traffic on the internet. Whether it is for security purposes or financial gain, our system of democracy is being compromised at a technological level. Several speakers including Tim Wu, expressed how “hacktivism” was a revolutionary tool used to take a stand against government interference.

Even though David initial intend was to find a game and not to start World War lll, his actions proved otherwise. The use of technology is an important advancement to modern society. However, when technology is given to adolescents unmonitored opens a new world to curious minds. In addition, this movie portrays a negative light on hackers. It shows that hacking is a serious issue because of the simplicity of some forms of hacking like social engineering and shoulder surfing such as when David simply knew the password for his school’s administrative computer and a simple code to hack into the system to change his grade. As a result, this movie portray a notion that anyone that knows and does a little research on hacking can cause

Allowing people to voice their opinion could lead to a great new innovative idea that will be profitable for the company.

Computer hacking: Is the practice of modifying computer hardware and software to accomplish a goal outside of the creator’s original purpose. People who engage in computer hacking activities are often called hackers. Since the word “hack” has long been used to describe someone who is incompetent at his/her profession, some hackers claim this term is offensive and fails to give appropriate recognition to their skills. The majority of hackers are technology buffs. They are self-motivated and learning about computers is their true passion. ("What Is Computer Hacking?" WiseGEEK. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2013).

The ethical issues surrounding hacking, stem from several sources mainly dealing with order and control, and information ownership. What is difficult to decipher from all the media hoopla surrounding the terms, "hacker" and "hacking" is both the simultaneous sensationalism and the condemnation of said activities. Of course just recently, even a movie was made and was appropriately called Hackers. The term and all that it implies has truly entered our popular consciousness when Hollywood has made a box office movie on it. As the advancement of computer technologies and systems of information become increasingly more and more complex in today's fast paced modern world and said technologies become an integral

A third positive example of hacking is hacktivism. Though hacktivists have a more subtle positive effect, they consistently bring controversial decisions and topics to light. Hacktivists are hackers that use their talent to be activists that support a certain cause. Most are politically motivated and believe that a person or organization has committed a wrongdoing. Their strong beliefs drive them to commit hacks that seek revenge and wreak havoc upon daily lives; numerous amounts of these attacks are on government agencies. This fact alone makes many people dislike the act. However, despite being malicious in nature, it is not malicious to individual citizens and often stimulates positive discussion and much-needed change. Hacktivism can be used to further popular ideas and make the public voice heard; it is a great way to broadcast ideas that would otherwise be obscure and ensure that a level of justice is promoted among peers.

As the world becomes more and more reliant on computers the computer hacking industry is greatly rising. With people such as Kevin Mitnick, who is known as a "computer terrorist" (Kjochaiche 1), computerized information isn't safe any more. Kevin is known as "the most high-profiled computer criminal and responsible for more havoc in the computer world today."(1) He considered this a fun and easy task. He got caught and thrown into prison, but once he got out nothing changed. Kevin stated that as long as the technology is there it just calls to people to break into it. Computer hackers usually start off young, thinking that it is nothing but a little harmless fun. But as they get older, they realize it has turned into

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