Hackers are the true defenders of cyberspace - Essay Example

Hackers are the True Defenders of Cyberspace There is a great divergence in the understanding of the role of hackers in modern cyberspace. While they are often considered to be criminals, breaking into computer systems to cause damage and engage in personal gain; most hackers are out there for the exact opposite reasons, to help the cyber-environment, and to do something they love. According to Wikipedia, "hacker is extended to mean a person who makes things work beyond perceived limits through their own technical skill." Hackers, then, strive to improve the internet for all users, and not damage or deface what currently exists. Hackers, not crackers (people whose primary goal is financial gain), are the true defenders of cyberspace, in that they work to uncover security flaws, attempt to regulate dangerous or immoral content, promote new technology and ideas, and strive to stop crackers from damaging critical cyber technology. By describing and proving each of the above concepts related to hackers and the defense of cyberspace, this essay seeks to prove that crackers, not hackers, are the primary threat to cyberspace; and that hackers, through their actions and love of technology, strive to and are successful at being the true defenders of cyberspace. All over the world, groups of hackers are gainfully employed as cyber cops, internet security, and virus stoppers. Everyday they find "cures" to hundreds of bugs, Trojan horses, and viruses that crackers and hackers have loosed on the cyber world. At the anti-virus firm Kaspersky, in Moscow, "woodpeckers" (young hackers) work in twelve hour shifts to protect the internet. In the media, they are called computer programmers. However, their job is to correct code, and to travel into crackers' computers to hunt out the source of these security breaches (Johnson 2006). Internet security requires hackers to learn not only how to fix the problems crackers cause, but also how to think like them, to understand not only the how but also the why of what the crackers do. The line between hacker (with a positive connotation) and hacker (with a negative connotation) is actually finite. They break into other people's computers, investigate personal files, and change the internet in thousands of ways. However, hackers only do it out of love for cyberspace, and a need to protect others, and strengthen the security of other people's systems. Crackers, (the group commonly called hackers in mainstream media) do the same; only they do it not just out of love, but also out of a desire for personal gain. For hackers, the need to learn to think like crackers is paramount. They are taught in classrooms how to think and behave like crackers, using the same tools to find a system's weakest points (School 2005). Yet few people would argue that these people are doing damage; instead, they are trying to strengthen security, and are called computer programmers by mainstream media. They use the same tools, and do the same actions. The only difference is the eventual goal: for hackers, to improve the internet, for crackers, to improve their wallet. Crackers not only go after financial gain for themselves, they also try to hurt others, a new wave called "cyber terrorism." Cyber terrorism is defined as "cyber terrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents" (Federal Bureau of Investigations 2006). Crackers gain entrance into military and government sites, causing damage and defacing the sites. Cyber terrorism is considered one of the greatest new threats, and laws are popping up everywhere requiring jail time for these offenders. Yet their greatest skill is that of not being findable, at least not by laypersons. Instead, computer programmers are becoming cyber cops, searching out these criminals, and stopping dangerous attacks on data. These "cracks" into government security can only be stopped by people who have similar skills, by hackers. These hackers, cyber cops, work in the same place the crackers do, looking for loopholes, and attempting to detect footprints that suggest someone should not have been in a system. Hackers and crackers work in a cyclical pattern, one damaging, the other correcting, each looking for the same problem (holes in security) and trying to reach them before the other. Together, their actions continually redefine cyberspace, challenging perceptions of safety, while constantly attempting to discover new flaws. While hackers may sound dangerous, sweeping silently into computer systems to determine (and fix) weaknesses, the threat of crackers, and of cyber cops is a far greater problem. Hackers work to solve problems, and also to find the crackers who have endangered people and data with viruses, bugs, and data thievery. They are individuals, not large government agencies, and they only threaten those who threaten cyber space. Without them, there would be no security available. More and more governments, in response to cyber terrorism and negative media, are considering a shift to using data cache and internet sweeps (random sweeps of all internet use) to find and stop cyber terrorism (Zittrain 2002). The very danger of allowing all internet data to be reviewed by the government is staggering. No longer would communication be safe, and would allow government to monitor the actions of every individual (Zittrain 2002). Internet security is paramount but so is freedom to be an individual, and to not be monitored. According to Harvard Professor Johnathon Zittrain Freedom includes the choice to be a law-abiding citizen in lots of ways, realizing that only the most persistent or terrible misdeeds are eventually called to account. When we don't cheat on our taxes or steal from our workplaces, it's because we choose to be good--not because we're under constant threat of being caught and punished. (2002) Hackers then, do not only stop cyber terrorism, but also protect the individual's right to privacy, and the security of cyberspace. Beyond protecting the individual, hackers have found a new calling. Coined as hacktivism (hacker and activism), these hackers work to stop social and political injustices across the globe. Hacktivism is loosely defined as the use of one's collective or individual ingenuity to circumvent limitations, to hack clever solutions to complex problems using computer and Internet technology. Hacktivism is a continually evolving and open process; its tactics and methodology are not static. In this sense no one owns hacktivism - it has no prophet, no gospel and no canonized literature. Hacktivism is a rhizomic, open-source phenomenon. (metac0m 2003) Hacktivism then is an attempt to protect the internet both from those who wish to harm others through crime and also those who wish to harm others by limiting freedom. Hacktivists inhabit the small liminal space between limiting and endangering those who choose to use the cyber environment and anyone who may be affect by such. These hackers maintain databases of banned material, so that people in countries that limit citizen's right to speak out against the government or complain have both a safe venue to do so, and also a place to find others who share their feelings. They also work to find and stop cyber crimes, such as child pornography rings, or weapons rings, and even go so far as to damage systems of people who actively engage in crimes against humanity. While these actions are not always legal, the hacktivists strive to find a balance between what individual freedom is, and what is immoral. While this is a vast gray area, most hacktivists maintain a similar set of rules and conduct, including "access to computers should be unlimited and total. All information should be free. Mistrust authority - promote decentralization. Hackers should be judged by their hacking not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position. You create art and beauty on a computer. Computers can change your life for the better" (Levy 2001). Hacktivists follow these codes to determine whether or not an action is 'moral' and then follow their instincts. Two hacktivist groups, Peekabooty and Hactivismo, for example, offer programs that allow people in countries where internet access is limited to access sites the government has banned (Chait 2002). Peekabooty hides the user, while Hactivismo hides the content. While this may allow some people to access pornography, it also allows activists in those countries to find uncensored news, and to share ideas and offer true examples of what is happing in those countries (Chait 2002). The hacktivists are activists whose primary cause is allowing others the freedom to share thoughts and ideas without censorship from government. Beyond offering protection and freedom, hackers are the primary source of new technology and ideas in the cyber world. Hackers are the people who create internet security programs, who challenge the very perceptions of internet itself. Hackers, such as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were the creators of the Apple computer! (Trigaux 2000) Hackers are not only the primary users of the internet, they are the internet, changing and modifying the core values with each press of a button. They create the software that runs the internet, challenge the people who attempt to limit the internet, and catch the criminals who attempt to exploit the internet. So why, then are hackers considered dangerous It is clear from the above evidence that hackers are not only the true defenders of cyberspace, but that they are absolutely vital to protecting both information and fellow internet users. It is then, not the job that they do, but the name that they are called that is the issue. When called cyber cops, or computer programmers, hackers are touted by mainstream media as the people who keep the internet safe. However, it is the term, hackers, which has undergone pejoration, and is now primarily used when talking about cyber criminals, called "crackers" by true computer enthusiasts. Hackers then are not the problem, but rather it is an issue of semantics. As stated in the opening a hacker is someone who is "a person who makes things work beyond perceived limits through their own technical skill" (Wikipedia 2006). Hackers successfully stop thousands of bugs and viruses from endangering businesses and individuals. Hackers offer practical solutions such as internet security programs, and modern computers. Hackers find and repair problems in security. Hackers teach new internet users and massive companies about computers, and how to protect themselves. Hackers not only are the primary defense of cyberspace, they are cyberspace! Works Cited Chaitt, Michael (2002, July 16). Hacktivists Make Software to Deliver Censored Content . Internetnews.com, Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/1405001 Johnson, Bobbie (2006, Feb, 06). Of worms and woodpeckers: the changing world of the virus-busters fighting rise in internet crime . Guardian Unlimited, Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1703161,00.html Levy, Steven (2001). Hackers: Heros of the Computer revolution. New York, NY: Penguin Publishing Group. metac0m, (2003). What is Hacktivism. Retrieved May 30, 2006, from The Hacktivist Web site: http://www.thehacktivist.com/hacktivism.php School (2005, Oct 5). School for Scoundrels. Guardian Unlimited, Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/security/story/0,,1602843,00.html Trigaux, R. (2000). A history of hacking. St. Petersburg Times, Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.sptimes.com/Hackers/history.hacking.html Wikipedia, (2006). Hacker. Retrieved May 30, 2006, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker Zittrain, Jonathon (2002, July 8). Beware the Cyber Cops. Forbes, Retrieved May 30, 2006, from http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/0708/062.html Read More