Hacking

Hacking

Computer Crime

It's the weekend, you have nothing to do so you decide to play around

on your computer. You turn it on and then start up, you start calling

people with your modem, connecting to another world, with people just like

you at a button press away. This is all fine but what happens when you

start getting into other peoples computer files. Then it becomes a crime,

but what is a computer crime really, obviously it involves the use of a

computer but what are these crimes. Well they are: Hacking, Phreaking, &

Software Piracy.

To begin I will start with Hacking, what is hacking. Hacking is

basically using your computer to "Hack" your way into another. They use

programs called scanners which randomly dials numbers any generating tones

or carriers are recorded. These numbers are looked at by hackers and then

used again, when the hacker calls up the number and gets on he's presented

with a logon prompt, this is where the hacking really begins, the hacker

tries to bypass this anyway he knows how to and tries to gain access to the

system. Why do they do it, well lets go to a book and see "Avid young

computer hackers in their preteens and teens are frequently involved in

computer crimes that take the form of trespassing, invasion of privacy, or

vandalism. Quite often they are mearly out for a fun and games evening, and

they get entangled in the illegal use of their machines without realizing

the full import of what they are doing", I have a hard time believing that

so lets see what a "hacker" has to say about what he does "Just as they

were enthraled with their pursuit of information, so are we. The thrill of

the hack is not in breaking the law, it's in the pursuit and capture of

knowledge.", as you can see the "hacker" doesn't go out to do destroy

things although some do. It's in the pursuit of knowledge. Of course this

is still against the law. But where did all of this start, MIT is where

hacking started the people there would learn and explore computer systems

all around the world. In the views of professional hacking is like drugs or

any other addictive substance, it's an addiction for the mind and once

started it's difficult to stop. This could be true, as hackers know what

they are doing is wrong and they know odds are they will be caught.