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There is a great prejudice against hackers nowadays, mainly perpetrated by the media. This prejudice comes mainly from the misconception of who hackers really are. The media calls anyone who commits a computer crime a hacker. This is simply not the case. Hackers are the people who not only built the internet to what it is today, but also keep it going. Hackers made the Unix OS what it is today.
Hackers fight computer crime, they combat computer stalkers. They write and fix software, patch up security holes, but above all, they have a great yearning for knowledge. To know how something works and make it work better is the ultimate goal of the hacker. Hackers do not just hack computers, they hack anything and everything to make it better for all. As Schmoe said, Hacking doesnt require a computer its a way of life.
If youve made something change, or if youve drilled down far enough to have a true understanding of it, youve hacked it. 1 The people whom the media dub hackers are in fact crackers. Crackers are people whose sole purpose is destroying, they will make viruses, break into places and delete information, deface websites, ECT. Crackers will pirate software, simply to do it. They are the people who are constantly arrested for hacking when in fact true hackers will have nothing to do with them. True hackers live by a code of ethics; they believe that Information-sharing is good, that it is the duty of hackers to share their knowledge by writing open-source and giving access to information and computer resources wherever it is possible. They also believe that system-cracking for fun and exploration is ethnically OK as long as the hacker commits no theft, vandalism, or breach of confidentiality.
A hacker, after gaining access to a system, will send an anonymous e-mail to the system administrator telling him, that the system has been hacked, and how to fix it so it cant happen again. Crackers on the other hand will gain access to a system, and destroy it, wiping out sensitive information and completely wrecking it. If a hacker gains entry to your system, you are left knowing that you arent as secure as you thought you were, you are able to fix the flaw and rest in the knowledge that now you are more secure. If a cracker gains entry, you wont have a system left to fix.
This is a difference between hackers and crackers. Hackers help fight computer crime, they will aid the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Hackers form the elite group known as the Cyberangels. These men and women are dedicated to stopping child pornography, online stalkers and other bad guys on the internet. The Cyberangels work very closely with law enforcement, to help keep the internet safe.
In applying for the Cyberangels, background checks are done, police letters are required, and voice prints may also be taken to ensure that these are truly good hackers wanting to better the internet and the hacker name. When the media first started to lump computer criminals together with hackers, in 1985, the true hackers coined the term cracker to try and differentiate between the two peoples. Unfortunately the media ignored this, and have today become completely biased against the hacker peoples. The image of the hacker has been defaced by the media, who cares not if they are correct or not when it comes to computer related issues, everyone suddenly becomes a hacker. Thus it has given rise to movies, and images of a dark, dank little corner in a basement, with 50 inch monitors, and disks strewn about. Old pizza boxes laying on the floor, and a little geek with glasses hunched over a computer at 3: 00 in the morning, simply able to press a few keys and bring a major network to its knees.
This is not an accurate image for the hacker, it would fit more the cracker who does not have much knowledge about the system he is breaking into, but simply uses pre-written programs to destroy things. This is in opposition of the hacker, who writes their own programs, and is on a quest for knowledge. The hacker will share his information with others so they may also know what he has discovered. The cracker will hoard his information from the rest of the world, keeping volumes of stolen software that he will never use, but simply has to prove his keenness. People today who call themselves cyberpunks, or honors, are not hackers, they are crackers, partakers and other lowlife miscreants that true hackers have nothing to do with. When the internet war began on April 1, 2001, after a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US spy plane, the media suddenly changed their perspective about hackers.
Suddenly they were the good guys, hacking Chinese sites, as they hacked American sites. In the end the media turned fickle again, and started calling for hackers to be jailed. What caused this? Some stupid honors, calling themselves hackers screwed up and the media, always looking for fresh meat dove in. Also a subject of great controversy, the Code Red worm, was it perpetrated by the Chinese? Or did some America crackers make it, to look like the Chinese had done it?
To this day we still dont know. Still the besmirched name of the hacker lives on, whether it is in inaccurate movies, or disillusioned media reporters, the prejudice against the hackers is evident. Evan though the hackers are the ones who are helping people and keeping the internet running, the media insists on picking on them. They seem to be too bull-headed to see that it is the crackers who perpetrate such evil events; but would rather sit back and let an inaccuracy serve as the truth. As long as this is the case, hackers will never be able to truly be free.
They will always have a cloud over their heads. The irony of the situation is, that without the hackers to keep the internet going, much of Americas commerce, and economy would come crashing down. If the crackers are left to their own devices there would not be a World Wide Web as we know it. That is why the hackers continue their fight, even though persecuted on all sides, because to them, protecting and learning all they can is reward enough.
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Research essay sample on The Great Prejudice Against Hackers
