Summary
In “The Hacker Manifesto,” the Mentor is justifying his existence as a hacker. He does that by describing what drives his interests as a hacker and what drove him to it and comparing that to society’s view of him. All of the segments that represented began with “damn kid” representing the scorn society has on individuals like the Mentor. Yet, the Mentor claims that his boredom that results from his above average intelligence drives him to act as he does and that computers actually challenge him intellectually and do not judge him like society does. He compares the computers objectiveness to the judgment of society. “It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. (The Mentor).” He found a place where he belongs in the internet and manipulating the information available, yet society looks upon this as a crime.
The only information that the author gives about himself is that he is a hacker, and his intended audience is the society that judges him, not including his fellow hackers. This is made obvious in his wording towards the beginning of his manifesto where he uses the pronoun you as in everybody else: “But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker (The Mentor)?” The author uses his manifesto to justify himself as a hacker and in writing this the opinion of the general society of him is at stake and if on the off chance the manifesto is used to track him down he may have to deal with the legal repercussions of being a hacker.
Inquiry
I have not been convinced that hacking is not necessarily a crime or that is possible to justify oneself as a hacker. The Mentor tries to define hacking as something other than unlawful information theft. He says, “We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals (The Mentor).” However, hacking is more than exploring and seeking knowledge. It is stealing people’s identity, it is accessing personal information and often exploiting it, it is stealing money. In fact, hackers stole about $120 million through online banking and transfers in a merely three month time period in 2009. This type of trend will only get worse and is very harmful to banks and small businesses. This type of hacking cannot be justifies by boredom or curiosity.
1) Is the existence of hackers the fault of society’s lack of understanding towards individuals like The Mentor?
2) Are there some situations where hacking is justifiable?
3) What are possible ways to prevent hacking?
By Brittney Beck
Hacking, in most situations, is unjustifiable to me. Passwords, codes, locks, and anything else that keeps the users under control are there for one reason: privacy. A password to an e-mail account is just the same as a code to a safe; both are there to protect its contents. Most hacking is done for no good, such as spamming or revenge. But I do think some hacking is necessary. For example, if the U.S. government had suspicions that another country was about to start war with us and we had the resources to get into an account which would prove or disprove that hunch, I feel it necessary to hack into it and immediately. In cases of security and safety, hacking maybe the only source of protection. Otherwise, hacking is a way to accomplish meaningless tasks that only hurt instead of help. Hackers could put their computer skills to much better use.
ReplyDeleteHacking is a polarizing issue, to be sure. However, to apply the terms “explore” and “seek after knowledge” to the act of hacking is quite generous. Hacking into another entity’s system is, in most cases, morally reprehensible and a clear violation of their security and privacy rights. The crux of this issue, then, is the justification for the actions of a hacker. I have been informed recently that there are hackers who are paid to attempt to hack in to systems in order to test their security, looking for holes to exploit and then make them aware to the relevant people. Such hacking for “good”, as one might be tempted to label it, is obviously much more acceptable than the use of hacking for one’s own unlawful personal gain. The airwaves are full of news stories in which hackers engage in identity theft or what have you in order to make themselves richer. “Exploring” the Internet and various computer systems “seeking knowledge” is all fine and dandy, but it’s usually done at the expense of others, financial and otherwise, and so cannot be morally defended except in extreme circumstances. As for the issue of society “not understanding” hackers, there are much more productive ways to deal with your feelings of being a social outcast than striking back at society.
ReplyDeleteWhen the word “hacker” is heard, most of the population visualizes a socially inept nerd unleashing his revenge on society through computer viruses and bank fraud. In “The Hackers Manifesto” the mentor bring up a valid concept about the lack of specialization in education when he states his boredom at learning the same thing for the “fifteenth time” during school. Many gifted children often find themselves far beyond the learning curve, which leads them to boredom and often becoming trouble makers in school. By reinforcing the concept the children are simply too smart for their own good it seems the mindset and self image created could easily lead to many practicing the malicious behavior we have come to associate with hacking. “An idle mind is the devil’s playground” is a timeless quote I thought of when reading through the manifesto. Our government is involved in various activities that would be deemed “hacking” if any other individual were to do the same thing. Few realize that the government has complete access to every facet of our electronic life along with the majority of the rest of the worlds. In doing it under the pretext of it as a necessity of security, however, they become overlooked when the concept of hacking is discussed. The mentor repeats the statement “damn kids” multiple times and is obviously indignant towards his childhood treatment. If we had a schooling system that worked on developing individual’s skills as opposed to simply generalizing a curriculum and what is expected of everyone it seems someone like the hacker would not build the mindset they are criminals and might as well act like one.
ReplyDeleteThe movie "Catch Me If You Can" came to my mind while reading this article. The main character begins skillfully forging checks at the age of seventeen, spends his victims' money lavishly, and evades the FBI agents that are constantly chasing him. The movie appears to glamorize his character and his crimes. After he is finally caught, the epilogue explains that he has been working for the government identifying check frauds worth over millions of dollars. The man in this movie is much like "The Mentor": he is young, brilliant, highly-capable, and possibly just requires a redirection of his ability. As American citizens we sacrifice privacy for security. We hope our activities are not audited for any other purpose than to identify the bad guys. However, some hackers may feel resentment of "the system", thus seek to create and live by their own laws. As in the Hacker Manifesto, their defiance towards authority began in school. They were probably our classmates that we had written-off. It will be difficult to improve the image of law-abiding hackers, though it is critical to make this distinction in order to progress.
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