The Past, Present and Future of Computer Hacking

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).

Hacking is when the identity thieves or their actors gain unauthorized access to databases or systems to obtain someone’s personal information, or information from and organization (Hedayati, 2012). Sometimes these hackers will take this information and sell it to others so that they may use it. Then the hacker doesn’t have to worry about using the information themselves and it is more secure to just sell stolen information.

Throughout the decades since technology has been introduced into society; there has been people to exploit them for money, personal gain, and “fame”. Every since the first personal computer that came out in 1940s people were all thinking of the possibilities to either gain information and provide an easier life style for the ones using it. Information comes in different from personal information to very confidential information. There are many reasons why people hack to get information; personal reasons and gains, corporate espionage and just for malicious purposes. There are also many discipline methods when it comes to people

A hacking crime is defined as any criminal act when person hacks or breaks into computer system or computer network in order to illegally obtain sensitive information or disseminate destructive computer software. In order to effectively combat computer crime and discourage hacking activity, lawmakers and computer professionals must understand the motivation behind this activity. The hacking community is a diverse and complicated universe. If the best offense is a good defence, then the best way to predict potential hacking attempts is to understand the mentality of hackers. One way of

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

In today’s society, the term hacker is very well known across the world. It is scary to know that you are being a victim of any individual who works with remote computers. People who use unauthorized entries to other computers through communication networks such as the Internet, are known as hacker. Since the technology has improved, all people should have information about hackers and how we can protect our systems against them.

In agreement with the preceding connotation, hacking is likewise defined as an embodiment of an aesthetic comprised of craftiness and craftsmanship. Hackers are portrayed to be clever and playful. They are those who show their wit via the combination of humour and source code. Looking in its sociological and historical context, however, the definitions of hacking have melted into a sea of variations (Jordan, 2008; Coleman and Golub

Ethical hackers are employed to protect networks and computers from attacks from non-ethical hackers who illegally penetrate computers to access private and sensitive information. Though they possess technical skills to those of an unethical hacker, an ethical hacker utilizes these skills for

Such actions are often called hacking. Hacking is the use of computer skills to gain unauthorized access to computer resources. Hackers are highly skilled computer users that use their talents to gain such access, and often form communities or networks with other hackers to share knowledge and data.

Internet hacking is considered a white-collar crime, which means it is a nonviolent crime; however, it involves deceit, corruption, and a breach of trust. Internet hacking can be involved with identity theft and fraud involving credit cards, e-commerce, and securities. All of those crimes can be considered up to a felony depending upon how serious the offense was. One of the first laws dealing with the computer crimes dates back to 1984 when the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was passed. The act prohibits accessing a computer without the authorization, or in excess of authorization. The act has been amended multiple times, the most recent being in 2008. Richard Mann and Barry Roberts say, “The Act makes it a crime with respect to any computer that is used in interstate commerce or communications (1) to access or damage it without authorization, (2) to access it with the intent to commit fraud, (3) to traffic in passwords for it, and (4) to threaten to cause damage to it with the intent to extort money or anything of value” (Mann and Roberts 111). A case that correlates with this act is LVRC Holdings LLC. V. Brekka. In 2009 Brekka who had previously worked for LVRC was allegedly hacked information about clients and using it to start his own business to compete against LVRC. Even if an employee accesses a computer for an improper purpose, the employee remains authorized to access the computer until the employer revokes the employee’s access. The ruling ended in favor of

A majority consensus views hackers as evil people who do nothing by play around in computers all day to improve their intrusion techniques in order to steal money, information, and cripple computer systems for various reasons. Based on the second paragraph of this paper, the consensus is somewhat flawed. The confusion stems from the definition of hacker and how they have been perceived. Hacking was originally defined as the production of furniture with the use of an axe, but MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology—the origination of the replacement term hacker) define it as students who pulled pranks with the use of a computer. In 1963, a group of MIT students tied up phone lines from both the MIT and Harvard Campuses, turning lines inactive and using available lines to make long distance phone calls that carried hefty phone charges. This was the first instance of the term being applied to the young, and rising profession of hacking. It has since then been in permanent use due to the evolutional path of hacking—the aspect that was widely publicized.

Computers have been used for most kinds of crime, including fraud, theft, larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, since the first cases were reported in 1958. One study of 1,500 computer crimes established that most of them were committed by trusted computer users within businesses; persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources. With the arrival of personal computers to manipulate information and access computers by telephone, increasing numbers of crimes--electronic trespassing, copyrighted-information piracy, vandalism--have been committed by computer hobbyists, known as "hackers," who display a high level of technical expertise. For many years, the term hacker defined

In the recent past there have been developments and issues that have arisen in regards to the internet. One development and issue is ethical hacking. To understand ethical hacking one must be able to define what it means to be a hacker. “A hacker is an individual who intends to gain unauthorized access to a computer system” (Laudon & Traver, 2015). Oxford Dictionaries defines an ethical hacker as “a person who hacks into a computer network in order to test or evaluate its security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent” (Ethical Hacker, n.d.). In other words, an ethical hacker aims to discover if any vulnerabilities exist in the system so the vulnerabilities can be fixed before a malicious hacker can exploit them. With ethical hacking being a new development, there have been news articles discussing the boons and concerns of its practice.

In today’s society, the term hacker is very well known across the world. It is scary to know that you are being a victim of any individual who works with remote computers. People who use unauthorized entries to other computers through communication networks such as the Internet, are known as hacker. Since the technology has improved, all people should have information about hackers and how we can protect our systems against them.