Difference between revisions of "Ethics in Hacking"
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| − | The act of hacking covers many ethical grounds | + | The act of hacking covers many ethical grounds, from the ethics of warfare to the ethics of personal privacy. The word hacking, as of the late 20th and early 21st century, brings together notions of cyber-criminal activity and mischievous internet activity. As a verb, the word in realm of technology refers to: |
a. an informal verb to alter (a computer program)<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking</ref> or b. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization.<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking</ref> | a. an informal verb to alter (a computer program)<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking</ref> or b. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization.<ref>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking</ref> | ||
[[File:Hacked_password.jpeg|thumb|450px|right|Passwords can be retrieved by analyzing through packets of sent data through a network]] | [[File:Hacked_password.jpeg|thumb|450px|right|Passwords can be retrieved by analyzing through packets of sent data through a network]] | ||
Revision as of 04:05, 6 December 2012
The act of hacking covers many ethical grounds, from the ethics of warfare to the ethics of personal privacy. The word hacking, as of the late 20th and early 21st century, brings together notions of cyber-criminal activity and mischievous internet activity. As a verb, the word in realm of technology refers to: a. an informal verb to alter (a computer program)[1] or b. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization.[2]
Contents
Hackers
"Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity" [3]. Written by someone called The Mentor, "The Hacker Manifesto" was against criminal accusations to hackers. By The Mentor's definition, a hacker was a curious person about information. But by the definition of the public media of the 1990's, hackers were cyber criminals who stole information and caused public mischief[4][5][6]. According to the 1960s MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club, hackers were a bunch of pranksters who enjoyed programming[7]. The linking details between the concept of hackers were computers and the digital era.
Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks are conscious decisions to get unauthorized access to a computer system. Usually they are "cyberspace-based forms of strategic attack, designed to cause costly, crippling disruptions"[8]. The attacks are also done to steal information such as social security numbers, bank accounts, and private data.
Ethics of Cyber Attacks
The ethical grounds for a cyber attack should be based on warfare. The attacks are criminal by nature. Since computer information is not tangible like food, there isn't a necessity for such cyber crime. The role of war in the cyber attack can vary. There are wars on private information like Wikileaks[9], wars against countries known as cyber warfare [10], or even personal wars against large corporations like the multiple attacks on Sony[11]. John Arquilla stated that "war and terror have grown more 'thinkable' and ethically acceptable due to the rise of disruptive, cyberspace-based means of attack"[12]. Cyber crime is a form of warfare and repeated exposure understandably makes physical warfare a more acceptable concept.
Examples of Cyber Attacks
Anonymous (group), a group of hackers against censorship of information attacked Sony websites in response to the persecution of fellow hackers who reverse engineered some of the Playstation 3 technology. Anonymous sent a warning to Sony declaring the attack because of the infringement of "free speech and Internet freedom"[13]. Sony was forced to shutdown their Playstation 3 network in order to repair the damages and fix the network. Shortly after the network was back online, LulzSec hacked Sony's photography website[14]. During the same month as the Sony hacks by Anonymous, Nissan systems were attacked by unknown hackers seeking further access to their networks. The hackers stole usernames and passwords from their databases and left a cold trace for authorities. [15]
Information Hacks
Hacks for information seek to uncover the unknown. The subjects of such hacks range from celebrities to government's databases. Because of these vulnerabilities, private data encryption software was developed to conceal and protect data transmitted over the internet. The altogether driving concepts of these hacks are privacy and what pieces of information should not be open to the general public.
Ethics of Information Hacks
The internet has given the computer age the ability to distribute information with ease. Facebook and Twitter are venues for the general public to share information about themselves. There is information that users of Social Networking Services would like to keep a secret, for example personal details about their lives. A common battle ground for information hacks is the target's cell phone where private messages, account details, emails, and images are often stored[16]. The privacy battles have been waged not only by the public but governments as well. Cases against privacy from the government are the rights of personal encryption data distribution (Bernstein v. US Department of Justice)[17] and a probable cause needed to track people using cell phone data (USA v. Pen Register)[18].
Examples of Information Hacks
Wikileaks supporters supply the website with leaked information in a variety of ways. One of those ways is through the hacking of emails, cellphones, and personal accounts of political officials such as Sarah Palin's email account[19]. Another case is when a Chinese hacker gained access to Indian Military information and Tibetan activist's personal accounts[20]
See Also
References
- ↑ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking
- ↑ http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hacking
- ↑ The Mentor. The Hacker Manifesto. http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html.
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/19/us/a-nationwide-computer-fraud-ring-is-broken-up.html
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/07/nyregion/2d-jail-term-looms-for-man-who-plundered-a-foundation.html
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/24/us/from-hacker-to-symbol.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
- ↑ Chapter 1 of Levy, Steven. Hackers. Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly Media, 2010.
- ↑ Floridi, Luciano, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. pg 134
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11858637
- ↑ http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/richard-clarke-china-has-hacked-every-major-us-company/11125
- ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2011/10/sony-playstation-network-hacked-again-closes-93000-accounts/
- ↑ Floridi, Luciano, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. pg 134
- ↑ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383018,00.asp
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/aug/29/lulzsec-hacker-arrest-sony-attack
- ↑ bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/nissan-is-latest-company-to-get-hacked/
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/world/europe/08london.html
- ↑ Floridi, Luciano, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. pg 123
- ↑ Floridi, Luciano, ed. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. pg 123
- ↑ http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/wikileaks/index.html
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/technology/hacking-in-asia-is-linked-to-chinese-ex-graduate-student.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
