Tameem Haj-Ibrahim November 26, 2017 IS 350 – Section 451 IS350 Final Is Ethical Hacking Ethical? Section 1: Description Hacking is the term used to describe the process of breaking into and obtaining access to a computer system or network. It’s essentially the modern successor of the age-old breaking-and-entering. In this information age, information is power. Those who obtain a person’s personal information can use it to for various crimes including identity theft. Companies and corporations are not exempt from this either. Nowadays, many companies store their customer’s personal data in their databases (a massive collection of data, similar to a giant, virtual phonebook). As a result, they become targets of hackers who, if successful, …show more content…
The recent Equifax incident is a prime example of this (Gressin, 2017). Hackers were able to steal credit card numbers of 209,000 people as well as the personal information (name, SSN, addresses, etc…) of thousands more (Gressin, 2017). This was a huge incident and caused widespread panic among Equifax customers who feared they would become victims of identity theft. So how can companies and corporations protect themselves from hackers and cybercriminals? The answer, quite simply, is to employ the use of ethical hacking. Ethical hacking involves hiring hackers to try and break into your own systems in order to learn how they do it and resolve potential security breaches. The logic behind ethical hacking derives from the saying, “In order to catch a criminal, you must think like a criminal.” Thus, ethical hackers play the role of the villain in order to protect their employer from the real villains. They’re kind of like the doctors of the cyber world. Modern day doctors give their patients vaccines that may temporarily …show more content…
However, almost every user doesn’t bother even reading the Privacy and Terms of Service Agreements. In an experiment run by two college professors, students were presented with a terms of service agreement for a new social media platform called NameDrop. In this Terms of Service agreement there was a line that said “I agree to give NameDrop my future first-born child”. 75% of the students didn’t even bother looking at the agreement. The other 25% skimmed the agreement for less than a minute. Every student, without fail, clicked the “I have read and agree to the above Terms and Conditions” checkbox and clicked Join. Luckily, NameDrop doesn’t actually exist but it goes to show just how easily companies and corporations can get away with putting anything in these agreements. Companies can easily put in clauses stating that “By agreeing, you give [so-and-so] permission to sell your personal information to whoever they choose” and most of us would agree without even realizing it. I understand reading every single terms of service agreement is tedious, annoying, and time-consuming. In fact, it is estimated that reading all of the Terms of Service agreements we see would take around 76 hours a year. However, we should at least be aware of what’s at stake and what information we are giving
In reality, most hackers are ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and plenty of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a hacker, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you coffee in the morning. Not all hackers are dangerous and out to destroy business or damage lives. The view of the general public toward hackers is mixed. A recent CNN-poll shows 33% of respondents labeling hackers as "useful," 17% seeing them "as a menace," and the majority (45%) seeing hackers as "both" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999).
In chapter six of the text it explained the hacker code of ethics and the issues associated with it. An ethical hacker is defined as a computer and networking expert who systematically attempts to penetrate a computer system or network on behalf of its owners for finding security vulnerabilities that malicious hackers could infiltrate. American journalist Steven Levy established six principals for hacker code of ethics. The six principal are limited computer access, free use of information, mistrusted- authority, examination of hacker, creation, and support in life for advancement. These principal has been controversial to many based on personal moral. As for creating appropriate set of guidelines for non-malicious hackers without becoming
Hackers are people who are getting into our computer systems, destroying our personal property and stealing our information. Years ago, a hacker was a person who was capable of creating elegant and or unusual uses of technology. These days, a hacker refers to a person who attempts to penetrate security systems on remote computers (Hackers 2). Not only are computer hackers causing many problems for businesses, they are also causing many problems for the average person. Hackers get in personal information and get a hold of credit card numbers, various banking accounts and financial information, and just about anything else they want to know about you. They are going to get it whether you like it or not.
We all know that hacking has been all over the place, practically it’s been going as long as the Internet has been alive. As we are all aware that selected amount of people just love to try and break into a computer system. But of course it’s not right for people to be hacking other people’s personal
...difficult to try and tell someone that ethics and moral are important for an individual or our society. Hacktivism being a recent adaptation of computer hacking has spread through out the world consistently from years ago. Some are political activists trying to make a point and achieve some goals and getting through tot the people. Hacktivist show society what the new problems are in the world without permission of the law. Some show what could happen if there was a full on cyber terrorism placed against us. In the end, these actions that were used to only show what could happen have turned into being a message that shows us they are just as dangerous as anyone else. The fear people have of hackers is about the same as criminals on the street.
Hacking has two primary definitions; the first refers to the enthusiastic and skilful use of computers to solve problems (Techterms, 2013); the second, to “gain unauthorized access to data in a system or computer” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). In the context of this essay the second definition is more appropriate and will be the meaning inferred throughout. This definition also more closely aligns with legal terminology used in the UK when describing the hacking of computers. The Computer Misuse Act (1990) introduced three criminal offenses:
Ethical hacking supports efforts to have more information about the organization’s system security so this helps to better the organization’s efforts to strengthen security measures against malicious hackers.
Businesses and government agencies are not the only targets for hackers, they do attack colleges and universities. There have been other higher education institutions which have been hacked and they have put in measures to try to prevent reoccurring hacking. There are processes, methodologies, and technology that can be purchased to lower the threats for computer crime. Laws have been put in place to protect universities, companies, government agencies, and other facilities, which are used to convict offenders. With the laws, there are government programs in place which can complement the security operations.
Hackers are probably one of the more common threats out there. These are the people who use modems and telephone lines to enter your computer. A teenager sits across the table yelling, "I want this and this and this….". This is not a kid talking to his parents; it is a hacker talking to the business he just hacked into. Whenever you think about it, the idea of a teenager being able to make a big software firm grovel like that is pretty amazing. This is a site often seen though. When a company is hacked into it often hires its predators as protectors (Glass 11). If companies do not come forward to claim that they have been infiltrated how are these hackers supposed to be prosecuted. This is a serious issue being faced today by the federal government. In an article by Stephen Glass he quotes a radio advertisement by the Nevada law-enforcement officials. They were so desperate the advertisement ran "Would you hire a shoplifter to watch the cash register? Please don't deal with hackers." The state took the airwaves after a boy had broken into a department stores computer system and made it credit $500 a day to his Visa card. The boy had racked up $32,000 before being caught. But, the store did not prosecute. Instead they let the boy keep his money, all in exchange for showing them how to improve their security (Glass 11). Also cases have been reported of government agencies being hacked into. If the government is worried about a hackers' invasion with their security system what is the American people to do.
Hacking has been around since the birth of computers. When the term hacking was first used, its meaning was not that of how we think of it today. At the origins of computing, a hacker was considered to be just a "creative programmer (Baase, 2003)." Early forms of computer games as well as the beginnings of operating systems were discovered and created by these original hackers. These hackers plunged into systems as a way of an intellectual challenge and to aspire to gain knowledge (Baase, 2003). Kevin Mitnick believes he falls into this realm of hackers. Hackers in today's era are now looked upon as criminals who invade the privacy rights of individuals and have the ability to deliver worms/viruses. The differences are that hackers today have full intentions of delivering terrible viruses and worms. Mitnick was one of the most infamous hackers during the 1980's. He molded his hacking style around the stupidity of humans and his quest for intellectual knowledge. The ways in which he wiggled his way into computer systems extenuates many of the issues surrounding computer security and privacy.
Imagine this, you are driving along the road and suddenly you see something spectacular. Now imagine that you are not allowed to deviate from your course to check it out. This is what a so-called “hacker” faces. Just imagine that you saw an injured person on the side of the road. In this analogy you are not allowed to help the injured person. A hacker is not allowed to explore like everyone else in the world. A hacker is not allowed to help fix potential security holes. The term hacker can have many meanings. The most visible to the public is the person pirating software, and breaking into corporate networks and destroying information. This is the public misconception of a hacker. Back in the Unix days, a hack was simply a quick and dirty way of doing something. Hackers in those days were basically just computer experts. Nowadays hacker means the same thing as a cracker, a person who pirates software, and malicious hackers. The media, of course, never prints the good things hackers do. Most hackers provide a service to companies, by letting the company know about security holes, before a rival exploits it. Most hackers want nothing more than to simply learn. A hacker has an extreme thirst for knowledge, but not in the traditional subjects. Technology, and anything new interest hackers. In fact most security experts start out but learning and “hacking”. The bad view of hackers is not completely false. There are hackers out there that will do there best to harm any system hey can, but most want nothing more than to find the beauty in system, or network. To hackers vast networks, and the inside of a firewall that was meant to keep them out, are the most beautiful sights on Earth.
In my opinion, ethics give people free will to make right choices. People have free will to make choices that are governed with responsibility, accountability, and liability. We have a responsibility to perform in an ethical manner and be accountable for our choices or actions. Regardless of the circumstances and choices we make, there are consequences if we make the wrong choice. The question of whether an action or choice is ethical or not is fundamentally based on whether something is right or wrong. From an ethical standpoint, unethical choices and risky behavior can lead to increased liabilities. The liabilities result in the loss or damage sustained by a company or other party as result of an unethical and sometimes illegal decision. Although we exercise free will on a continuous basis, we are governed by the decisions we make and my belief is that the decisions we make daily do not just affect us. These decisions affect other people, such as family, friends, coworkers, instructors, neighbors, etc. The most prominent example of ethics can be recognized in the field of technology based on the growing amount of rapidly changing legislation and acts that under consideration in order to protect people from unethical practices.
The issue with tackling the ethical hacker scenario is that the event is almost entirely action based. There is no end to give meaning to the action and there is no finalized result or indication that it impacted happiness, which many ethical theories depend on. Namely consequentialism, utilitarianism and ethical egotism require an end result in one form or another. There is also no purpose in committing the hackings which makes applying moral theories that deal with motivation and intent, ethical egotism and aspects of virtue ethics, increasingly more difficult to do effectively. Therefore moral theories that apply almost exclusively to the action itself will be utilized in this argument.
Hacking was a term established in the 1960s. This word is the concept of unauthorised intrusion of a computer or network with malicious intentions behind them. This includes any technical effort of manipulating or damaging the normal behaviour of network connections/systems or stealing information. In this generation, hacking has become evidently significant and the debate of hacking being considered ethical or unethical arises. Therefore, will hacking ever be justified? The justification (reasonableness) of hacking has become a disputation of mixed opinions and emotions amongst society. These opinions range from hacking being considered immoral due to it being illegal activity and the vast negative impact it has on people. This includes the affirmative opinions on hacking; such as hacking being considered ethical due to the “white hat” hackers.
What is a hacker? This term has been used a lot lately, especially due to the cyber attacks that have escalated to a whole new level in the recent years. According to Sjoholm and Rosencrance, a hacker is “an individual who uses computer, networking or other skills to overcome a technical problem”. It also refers to a person that gains unauthorized access to systems or networks for the purpose of committing acts of malicious intent. There are three different types of hackers: White hat, black hat and grey hat hackers. White hat hackers or ethical hackers are the hackers that seek to remain in the best interest of the pubic. Black hat hackers are criminals that seek to violate laws and regulations and cause chaos by illegally