Hackers are often misunderstood and portrayed negatively in popular culture. A hacker's motivation comes from intellectual curiosity to learn more about information systems, rather than malicious intent. However, "crackers" hack systems to cause harm. Hackers believe that all information should be free and accessible, and that one should be judged based on skills rather than attributes. The group Anonymous both promotes hacktivism but also contributes to hackers' negative reputation through questionable tactics. As technology evolves, society's perspective of hackers remains complex.
The PC was presented as a "revolution'' that
would empower individuals, in the workplace as
well as in society. It was supposed to bring about
greater social equality and keep power under
scrutiny. Hackers, and their values of technical
prowess, disdain for authority and individual
freedom were hailed as the heroes of this
coming revolution.
Thirty years down the line, we find ourselves in
Surveillance Capitalism, a literal dystopia where
our every move, online or offline, is tracked,
catalogued, stored forever and sold at auction
across the world.
Instead, those who should have brought about a
revolution have either become the ruling elite in
the GAFAM occult Leninist experiment, or its
useful idiots.
It appears that ethics was never an inherent
hacker value, rather a personal value of some
hackers.
If we value social good at all, we must recognise
that techical prowess without ethics is
dangerous, and that being a hacker per se does
not matter.
Charity: A Secret for Cyberspace by Jon CreekmoreEC-Council
Today, there lies an untapped source of great capability within cyberspace; charities. From the rise of the makerspace movement, to an explosion of STEM initiatives in third world countries, and even robotic competitions globally, our world is changing due to cyberspace. Through studying current initiatives and personal experiences, this presentation will present a plan and method to impact the evolution of cyberspace.
The PC was presented as a "revolution'' that
would empower individuals, in the workplace as
well as in society. It was supposed to bring about
greater social equality and keep power under
scrutiny. Hackers, and their values of technical
prowess, disdain for authority and individual
freedom were hailed as the heroes of this
coming revolution.
Thirty years down the line, we find ourselves in
Surveillance Capitalism, a literal dystopia where
our every move, online or offline, is tracked,
catalogued, stored forever and sold at auction
across the world.
Instead, those who should have brought about a
revolution have either become the ruling elite in
the GAFAM occult Leninist experiment, or its
useful idiots.
It appears that ethics was never an inherent
hacker value, rather a personal value of some
hackers.
If we value social good at all, we must recognise
that techical prowess without ethics is
dangerous, and that being a hacker per se does
not matter.
Charity: A Secret for Cyberspace by Jon CreekmoreEC-Council
Today, there lies an untapped source of great capability within cyberspace; charities. From the rise of the makerspace movement, to an explosion of STEM initiatives in third world countries, and even robotic competitions globally, our world is changing due to cyberspace. Through studying current initiatives and personal experiences, this presentation will present a plan and method to impact the evolution of cyberspace.
Synergy in Joint Cyber Operations - Indian National Defence University & HQ I...Pukhraj Singh
In 2012, I led the first joint cyber operations with the Indian Air Force. Seven years too late, we have started talking about cyber jointness.
“Synergy in Joint Cyber Operations” presented at an Indian National Defence University event. The first time ever that jointness was discussed in the Indian context. Not very verbose for obvious reasons – I flagged politics and turf wars. Some shakeups are happening; the Defence Cyber Agency is up. Winds of change…
Raab festival of ideas presentation 2015+logo(1)Alex Dunedin
Professor Charles Raab's presentation at the Festival of Ideas in 2015. You can hear the audio podcast of the presentation along with his colleagues by visiting: https://wp.me/p75LG5-5wy
What is a Hacker (part 1): Types, tools and techniquesKlaus Drosch
The popular definition of a hacker is someone who uses their technical abilities to gain unauthorized access to computers. In reality hackers are as diverse as people in general, having expert technical abilities does not have to make you a criminal; it can make you a hero.
Vint Cerf speaking at the Freedom to Connect 2012 conference. The video of this presentation is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtTUMXpxLk
and other presentations are at:
http://freedom-to-connect.net/videos/
Social engineering 101 or The Art of How You Got Owned by That Random StrangerSteven Hatfield
This covers the basics of Social Engineering, different attack vectors that have worked with real world examples from friends currently conducting such tests, provide different sources to gather information on this topic, and present ways to prevent such attacks from happening in the future.
In recent years, hacktivists have received greater attention from the media, the public and from government bodies. The distribution of classified information by hacktivists has garnered much media attention. In particular, the 2010 release of over 200,000 United States embassy cables by the whistleblower organization Wikileaks (the largest set of confidential documents ever released into the public domain) was widely publicized and severely condemned by the United States government (Al Jazeera, 2010). As their actions become both bolder and more widely acknowledged, hacktivists are being increasingly seen as a threat to national security in security-focused states such as the United States. This raises the question of how actors in the government of the United States are currently taking action to securitize hacktivism.
Cyberterrorism can be in the form of Information attacks which a.docxwhittemorelucilla
Cyberterrorism can be in the form of Information attacks which are attempts to access, destroy, or alter information retained, processed, and distributed by computers and their networks and infrastructure attacks which are attempts to damage or disable critical services such as transportation, the distribution of electricity, gas and water, air traffic control and other critical government services (excelsiour, 2020). Hacktivism would be to use a computer to progress an agenda either a social or politically motive stance on a subject matter. The fundamental difference between cyberterrorism and hacktivism is that one wants to destroy (cyberterrorism) while the other (hacktivism)wants to persuade people to their cause or create a change.
Technology has advanced these types of groups agenda farter and faster than ever before. There has always been dissenting views to what governments agendas or from what is the acceptable social norms for behavior. But now with the Internet (Technology) groups (mostly radical) can reach out to a greater audience perpetrate nefarious deeds with some form amenity. Groups can post fake news, statistics or false information to sway an audience to believe as they do. We only need to take our national security agencies word (or can we?) that state sponsored hackers infiltrated our last presidential election to sway our votes.
In my opinion our governments have perpetuated the lack of freedoms that we the people are supposed to enjoy and, in many cases, still think we have but don’t. Governments have used for themselves and suppled countries that are under totalitarian rule the software to hack SSL inscription. SSL inscription is what is supposed to protect people privacy of communication over the internet. Communication such as Gmail or your private online discussions. State sponsored Trojan’s are used by the governments now to monitor normal peoples and suspects communications to investigate its own citizens -internet connections – watch and listen to online discussions they can even collect your passwords. People have always assumed that they have some basic privacy from the government. People should now assume that what they do on a computer is going to be known by whomever wishes to view or listen.
When cybercrime expert Mikko Hypponen talked to an audience at TEDxBrussels, an independent event about how company based in Germany sold to the Egyptian government a set of tools for intercepting, at a very large scale, all the communication of the citizens of the country. This really started me to think about when this video was made -2011 a decade ago this was occurring. How far have we gone to invading privacy since then is the question?
I don’t believe that Hacktivism is a subset of cyberterrorism. I do believe they need to walk a fine line. I can understand their existence with all the government intrusion over the last 20 years (see TED video). How else are ordinary p.
Synergy in Joint Cyber Operations - Indian National Defence University & HQ I...Pukhraj Singh
In 2012, I led the first joint cyber operations with the Indian Air Force. Seven years too late, we have started talking about cyber jointness.
“Synergy in Joint Cyber Operations” presented at an Indian National Defence University event. The first time ever that jointness was discussed in the Indian context. Not very verbose for obvious reasons – I flagged politics and turf wars. Some shakeups are happening; the Defence Cyber Agency is up. Winds of change…
Raab festival of ideas presentation 2015+logo(1)Alex Dunedin
Professor Charles Raab's presentation at the Festival of Ideas in 2015. You can hear the audio podcast of the presentation along with his colleagues by visiting: https://wp.me/p75LG5-5wy
What is a Hacker (part 1): Types, tools and techniquesKlaus Drosch
The popular definition of a hacker is someone who uses their technical abilities to gain unauthorized access to computers. In reality hackers are as diverse as people in general, having expert technical abilities does not have to make you a criminal; it can make you a hero.
Vint Cerf speaking at the Freedom to Connect 2012 conference. The video of this presentation is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwtTUMXpxLk
and other presentations are at:
http://freedom-to-connect.net/videos/
Social engineering 101 or The Art of How You Got Owned by That Random StrangerSteven Hatfield
This covers the basics of Social Engineering, different attack vectors that have worked with real world examples from friends currently conducting such tests, provide different sources to gather information on this topic, and present ways to prevent such attacks from happening in the future.
In recent years, hacktivists have received greater attention from the media, the public and from government bodies. The distribution of classified information by hacktivists has garnered much media attention. In particular, the 2010 release of over 200,000 United States embassy cables by the whistleblower organization Wikileaks (the largest set of confidential documents ever released into the public domain) was widely publicized and severely condemned by the United States government (Al Jazeera, 2010). As their actions become both bolder and more widely acknowledged, hacktivists are being increasingly seen as a threat to national security in security-focused states such as the United States. This raises the question of how actors in the government of the United States are currently taking action to securitize hacktivism.
Cyberterrorism can be in the form of Information attacks which a.docxwhittemorelucilla
Cyberterrorism can be in the form of Information attacks which are attempts to access, destroy, or alter information retained, processed, and distributed by computers and their networks and infrastructure attacks which are attempts to damage or disable critical services such as transportation, the distribution of electricity, gas and water, air traffic control and other critical government services (excelsiour, 2020). Hacktivism would be to use a computer to progress an agenda either a social or politically motive stance on a subject matter. The fundamental difference between cyberterrorism and hacktivism is that one wants to destroy (cyberterrorism) while the other (hacktivism)wants to persuade people to their cause or create a change.
Technology has advanced these types of groups agenda farter and faster than ever before. There has always been dissenting views to what governments agendas or from what is the acceptable social norms for behavior. But now with the Internet (Technology) groups (mostly radical) can reach out to a greater audience perpetrate nefarious deeds with some form amenity. Groups can post fake news, statistics or false information to sway an audience to believe as they do. We only need to take our national security agencies word (or can we?) that state sponsored hackers infiltrated our last presidential election to sway our votes.
In my opinion our governments have perpetuated the lack of freedoms that we the people are supposed to enjoy and, in many cases, still think we have but don’t. Governments have used for themselves and suppled countries that are under totalitarian rule the software to hack SSL inscription. SSL inscription is what is supposed to protect people privacy of communication over the internet. Communication such as Gmail or your private online discussions. State sponsored Trojan’s are used by the governments now to monitor normal peoples and suspects communications to investigate its own citizens -internet connections – watch and listen to online discussions they can even collect your passwords. People have always assumed that they have some basic privacy from the government. People should now assume that what they do on a computer is going to be known by whomever wishes to view or listen.
When cybercrime expert Mikko Hypponen talked to an audience at TEDxBrussels, an independent event about how company based in Germany sold to the Egyptian government a set of tools for intercepting, at a very large scale, all the communication of the citizens of the country. This really started me to think about when this video was made -2011 a decade ago this was occurring. How far have we gone to invading privacy since then is the question?
I don’t believe that Hacktivism is a subset of cyberterrorism. I do believe they need to walk a fine line. I can understand their existence with all the government intrusion over the last 20 years (see TED video). How else are ordinary p.
HackScott Vinger How has the perception of the hacker chan.docxshericehewat
"Hack"
Scott Vinger
How has the perception of the hacker changed over recent years? What is the profile of a hacker today?
We can look at the time line of the word “Hack”
June 1959 – Peter R. Samson of the Tech Model Railroad Club of MIT Publishes “AN ABRIDGED DICTIONARY of the TMRC LANGUAGE.” It contains the first verifiable modern source of the word hacker.
November 20, 1963 – MIT’s newspaper, The Tech, publishes the first documented use of hacker in journalism.
September 5, 1977 – Time Magazine publishes the first documented use of “hacker” in the mainstream press.
August 1, 1980 – Psychology Today publishes “The Hacker Papers”
May 6, 1981 – Possibly the first surviving, documented USENET post of the word hacker.
July 2, 1981 – The first documented use in a newspaper of the word hacker.
December 4, 1984 – The word hacker is documented to be spoken for the first time on television, by Ted Koppel.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of hacker is:
1. One that hacks
2. A person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity
3. An expert at programming and solving problems with a computer
4. A person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system
So, lets look at Definition # 3 and #4. There are Three Types of Hackers:
1. White Hat Hacker
a. Is an Ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who specializes in penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the security of an organization’s information systems.
b. Ethical hacking is an increasingly accepted and legitimate profession. Therefore, be careful not to treat an ethical hacker like a former (or current) criminal.
c. While the nature of their duties is historically “bad,” that doesn’t warrant a set of guidelines separate from their coworkers.
d. Doing so makes an already traditionally solitary role even more isolating and could make them feel like they are doing something wrong when they are actually helping your business.
2. Grey Hat Hacker
a. A computer hacker or computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.
b. Gray Hats frequently hack systems without approval or authorization from a principal enterprise, usually to prove they can, but then usually notify the system or network owner or vendor of any discovered weakness.
3. Black Hat Hacker
a. A person who attempts to find computer security vulnerabilities and exploit them for personal financial gain or other malicious reasons.
b. They can inflict major damage on both individual computer users and large organizations by stealing personal financial information, compromising the security of major systems, or shutting down or altering the function of websites and networks.
c. The growth of the black hat community simply as a byproduct of a growing society; as any society grows past a certain limit, a dark side emerges.
d. Black hat ...
In this class we studied the "Internet Freedom" speeches of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and then looked at critiques and counter-arguments made by Evgeny Morozov, Sami Ben Gharbia and Cory Doctorow.
Briefly define cyberterrorism. Define hacktivism. Illustrate examples of each in current events
within the last decade.
What is the fundamental difference between these two?
How has technology helped to advance these groups?
How do you think our government’s response to such groups has changed our attitudes towards
our own freedoms?
In your opinion, do you think Hacktivism is justified or is it just a subset of cyberterrorism? Give
some examples to support your stance.
Solution
According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, cyberterrorism is any \"premeditated,
politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data
which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine
agents.\"Unlike a nuisance virus or computer attack that results in a denial of service, a
cyberterrorist attack is designed to cause physical violence or extreme financial harm. According
to the U.S. Commission of Critical Infrastructure Protection, possible cyberterrorist targets
include the banking industry, military installations, power plants, air traffic control centers, and
water systems.
Cyberterrorism is sometimes referred to as electronic terrorism or information war.
Hacktivism is “the use of computers and computer networks to promote political ends, chiefly
free speech, human rights, and information ethics”. As with any technology, “hacking” and
therefore hacktivism can be a force for good or evil.
Hacking versus Cyberterrorism
‘Hacking’ is the term used to describe unauthorised access to or use of a
computer system. The term ‘hacktivism’ is composed of the words ‘hacking’ and
‘activism’ and is the handle used to describe politically motivated hacking. ‘Cracking’
refers to hacking with a criminal intent; the term is composed of the words ‘criminal’
and ‘hacking.’ In a majority of both media reports and academic analyses of
cyberterrorism, one or other of these terms – hacking, hacktivism, cracking - or the
activities associated with them are equated with or identified as variants of
cyberterrorism.
Hackers have many different motives. Many hackers work on gaining entry to
systems for the challenge it poses. Others are seeking to educate themselves about
systems. Some state that they search for security holes to notify system administrators
while others perform intrusions to gain recognition from their peers. Hacktivists are
politically motivated; they use their knowledge of computer systems to engage in
disruptive activities on the Internet in the hopes of drawing attention to some political
cause. These disruptions take many different forms, from ‘denial of service’ (DoS)
attacks that tie up Web sites and other servers, to posting ‘electronic graffiti’ on the
home pages of government and corporate Web sites, to the theft and publication of
private information on the Internet. Crackers hack with the intent of stealing, altering
data, or engaging in other malicious damage.41 A sig.
This is a presentation about malwares, and how this are reconized the different types of malwares, who creates them, what's wrong and right about them, and the growth of these Malwares. I have also introduced a little chapter about the ethics of the internet/technology.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
Generating a custom Ruby SDK for your web service or Rails API using Smithyg2nightmarescribd
Have you ever wanted a Ruby client API to communicate with your web service? Smithy is a protocol-agnostic language for defining services and SDKs. Smithy Ruby is an implementation of Smithy that generates a Ruby SDK using a Smithy model. In this talk, we will explore Smithy and Smithy Ruby to learn how to generate custom feature-rich SDKs that can communicate with any web service, such as a Rails JSON API.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
2. What is a Hacker?
• A Hacker is a person that “tests the limitations
of information systems out of intellectual
curiosity-to see whether they can gain access and
how far they can go”. (Reynolds, 2014, p. 96)
▫ Contain at least a basic understanding of
information systems and security features.
▫ Motivation comes from desire to learn more.
3. Hackers and popular culture
• Popular culture has many different views about hackers:
▫ Some people "hail them as the heroes of the computer revolution“
▫ Others see them as the demons that stole their credit card
information
▫ They are referred by Janet Murray as the "one of the great
creative wellsprings of our time, causing the inanimate circuits to
sing with ever more individualized and quirky voices“
• In an article by Svetlana Nikitina, hackers are compared
to tricksters of mythology on a number of levels
▫ Trickers were known to “defy definition”, as do hackers.
▫ They both work to break boundaries.
▫ They both challenge us to be “be prepared for deceit and pranks”
as a part of their creative abilities.
(Nikitina, 2012)
4. Hackers vs. Crackers
Hackers Crackers
• Desire to test limits of
security systems.
• May also desire to gain
publicity.
• Motivated by desire to
learn more.
• Hack systems for to point
out vulnerabilities.
• Defined as hackers with
the intention of causing
trouble.
• Desire to test limits of
security systems.
• But also desire to steal
data, corrupt systems and
cause other problems.
• Hack systems for
personal gain.
(“What is Hacker?”)
5. So… what are they?
• Because of the misunderstandings of what hackers are
defined as, no one knows what to think of them.
▫ The mass media portrays them as malevolent rebels, adding to
their negative connotation.
But really they misuse the term “hacker”. Instead they should be using
the term “cracker”.
▫ The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hackers as:
“a person who is inexperienced or unskilled at a particular activity”
“an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer.”
These two very contradictory definitions contribute to the
misconceptions about hackers and their abilities.
(Nikitina, 2012)
6. Anonymous
• A widely known, loosely organized hacktivist
group created to promote free speech, free
access to information, and transparency of
government activities. (“What is Anonymous?”, 2015)
▫ Known for their hacks against governments world-
wide and against large corporations like Sony.
• Use computer hacking as their main tool
▫ But also use social media and organized street
protests to achieve their goals.
(Goode, 2015)
7. Anonymous continued…
• Was first known for playing pranks, but has
become more political and serious in recent
years. (“What is Anonymous?”, 2015)
▫ Commonly seen as cyberterrorists by governments
• Became one of the leading forces behind the
hacktivist movement in the 21st century.
▫ But they gave hackers a bad name through their
hypocritical ideals.
Ex: promoting free speech by taking down websites.
(Goode, 2015)
8. The Hacker’s Perspective
• Studies have observed hacker’s cultural practices and
perceptions as technology evolves and as the cultural
view of hackers have changed.
▫ Especially after events like the Target hack of 2013.
• Society’s perspective towards hackers has become more
and more negative over time as personal privacy has
become an issue.
• Recently, a man named Steven Levy researched hacker
perspectives on surveillance and privacy and published
his findings in his book: Hackers: Heroes of the
Computer Revolution.
(Steinmetz, 2015)
9. Hacker Ethics
• The hacker ethic can be viewed as a particular
ontological perspective adopted by members of the
hacking subculture
• According to Steven Levy, hackers believe that:
1. Access to computers should be unlimited and total
Provides the opportunity to take things apart and
possibly improve them
2. All information should be free
3. Mistrust authority-promote decentralization of
bureaucracies
Deemed to be flawed systems because of the
boundaries they have to accessing information
(Steinmetz, 2015)
10. Hacker Ethics Continued
4. Hackers should be judged only by their hacking
abilities
Not by age, sex, race, or position. Only by skill.
5. You can create art and beauty on a computer
6. Computers can change your life for the better
They believe that computers have enriched our
lives and granted humans to turn dreams into
reality.
• Essentially, hackers love and promote freedom and
easy access to information.
(Steinmetz, 2015)
11. Conclusion
• Hackers have developed a negative connotation over the
years as technology and the concern for privacy have
grown.
▫ The group Anonymous and the media have contributed to
that.
• Most hackers are often mistaken for their “cracker”
counterparts, whom are hackers with malicious intent.
• Commonly seen as unethical people, when really hackers
have their own “ethical code” that goes against the
Computer Ethics Institute’s Computer Ethic code.
• Only through the development of technology and
concrete privacy policies can it be determined if hackers
are indeed good or bad to society.
12. References
Goode, L. (2015). Anonymous and the Political Ethos of Hacktivism. Popular Communication, 13(1),
74-86. doi:10.1080/15405702.2014.978000
NIKITINA, S. (2012). Hackers as Tricksters of the Digital Age: Creativity in Hacker Culture. Journal Of
Popular Culture, 45(1), 133-152. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00915.x
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