Hacking

             Computers have taken over our lives. People could not function without them, our electricity is run by computers, the government could not function without computers, and there are many others. Hackers are people who illegally gain access to, and sometimes tamper with, information in a computer system. Due to recent media coverage and corporate interest, hacker's activities are now looked down on by society as criminals. Despite the growing trend of hacking, very little research has been done on the hacking world and its culture. The image of a computer hacker has grown from a harmless nerd into a vicious techno-criminal. In reality most hackers are not out to destroy the world. The hackers in today's society are not just board teenagers. Since the introduction of personal computers in the 1970's, the art of computer hacking has grown along with the changing roles of computers in society.
             Various types of people commit computer crimes, the two most familiar being hackers and crackers. A hacker is a person who enjoys exploring the details of a programmable system and how to stretch their capabilities (Ceruzzi 21). True hackers are interested not in destruction, but in technology, and that they circumvent security only to help improve it. It is similar to an artist who, instead of painting a beautiful picture, spays graffiti on a city wall. There have been stories about hackers breaking into a web site and than leaving tip on how to improve it with their e-mail address attached (Roberts 12). True hackers do not wish to be associated with the bad hackers, also known as "crackers". A cracker is one who breaks security on a system (Ceruzzi 21). Crackers are considered malicious with the intention of harming or causing damage to a computer system. The motivations behind cracker's actions are profit, revenge, or a mixture of the two (Judson 45). With all this confusion people have created new na...

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Hacking. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 20:19, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/83157.html