Negative uses and effects of Technology in Neuromancer in connection to Avatar and Modern Cyber-warfare articles

2377 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: influence of technology to society

Technology has undergone a revolution which made humans lives simpler and added many benefits to the world. Everyday, technology is constantly being improved and there are new inventions developed to run million-dollar businesses. However, technology can be considered a two-sided blade as it can be used for legitimate purposes as well as for wrongdoing. Almost everyday, countless computers and databases are hacked by cyber criminals who are scattered around the globe. Unknown hackers can range from petty thieves to high level government forces. Aliases are used to keep confidentiality, similar to Henry Dorset from Neuromancer (Gibson), known by the name ‘Case’, who is a cyber space cowboy who steals from many companies and private organizations around the world. Stealing information is considered a crime, which may cause international and sometimes personal disputes. Large-scale disputes can be considered very dangerous, which is why violence is a main factor when technology is used in the wrong form. Similar to Case, Jake Sully in Avatar (Cameron) uses a high performance matrix machine, in this case to control the body of an avatar to retrieve and adapt to the avatar race Na’vi race while sacrificing his real-world life, forgetting his own physical and mental awareness. This ultimately causes a large war between the human and Na’vi race. In both fictional sources technology promotes hacking and cyber-warfare, which not only turns into targeting the opposing side in terms of data, but also physical threats. The modern day article “How Does Cyber Warfare Work” shows that these negative aspects of technology also exist in the real world.
In all three connecting sources, as technology is used to gain personal power, it is ultimately ...

... middle of paper ...

...ington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver. 2009. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009. DVD.
Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2004. Print.
Hods, Jon. “The Cyber War Turns Physical.”Jerusalem Online.Jerusalem Online, n.d. Web. . 1 Dec. 2013.
Quora. “How Does Cyber Warfare Work?.” Forbes. Forbes, n.d. Web. . 1 Dec. 2013.
Susan W. Brenner and Leo L. Clarke. "Civilians in Cyberwarfare: Conscripts" Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 43 (2010). . 1 Dec. 2013.
Tran, Mark. “Girl starved to death while parents raised virtual child in online game.” The Guardian. < http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game>. 1 Dec, 2013.

Show More
Related

  • Thomas Rid’s Arguement on the Impossibility of Cyber War

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article, Thomas Rid’s main argument other than the contention that cyber war will not happen is that cyber war is completely misplaced if not entirely misunderstood. He argues that the concept of cyber war is not in tandem with the historical definition and understanding of what constitutes ‘’war’’. Rid’s definition of war, borrowed from Carl von Clausewitz, is that war must constitute three elements: violence, instrumental and political. (Rid, Cyber War Will Not Take Place, 2012) Therefore, his main argument against the possibility for cyber war is premised on the idea that cyber war can never have or express the above three elements. He further argues that at best, cyber war can achieve some of the above criteria such as violence but only through intermediaries; however, he does not see how cyber war can meet all the three criteria.

    Read More

  • 1 Lunatic, 1 Ice Pick: Theoretical Analysis

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most are already aware of the level of surveillance the federal government has on our internet lives - with the amount of arrests related to movements referred to by names such as 'cyber-terrorism', it's obvious to see why. The constant clashing of opinionated groups behind the wall of a digital screen can lead to real-life danger. In addition, once one decides to take a peek into examples of this, they unearth a plethora of criminal activity and chain-reaction events, ranging from drug networking, to assassination and shooting plans, to popularized images and videos of murder and cruelty.

    Read More

  • CyberCrime in Australia

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    Petallides, C. J. (2012). "Cyber Terrorism and IR Theory: Realism, Liberalism, and Constructivism in the New Security Threat." Student Pulse, Vol 4, No 3 Accessed online http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=627> on 12/03/14

    Read More

  • Hacker Crackdown

    1754 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this book Sterling discusses three cyberspace subcultures known as the hacker underworld, the realm of the cyber cops, and the idealistic culture for the cyber civil libertarians. At the beginning of the story Sterling starts out with discussing the birth of cyberspace and how it came about. The Hacker Crackdown informs the readers of the issues surrounding computer crime and the people on all sides of those problems. Sterling gives a brief summary of what cyberspace meant back then and how it impacted society, and he investigates the past, present and future of computer crimes. For instance he explains how the invention of the telephone led to a world that people were scared of because the telephone was something that was able to let people talk to one another without actually being in the same area. People thought that it was so strange and so different because they didn’t understand all of the information behind it. Back then people thought of the telephone as a tool that allowed others to talk to them in a way that was so personal yet impersonal. Sterling then goes on to explain how “phone phreaks” played such an important part in relating the telephones to computer crimes and how they were so closely related back then.

    Read More

  • The Horror of Dystopia Revealed by Neuromancer

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    When William Gibson's futuristic novel Neuromancer  was first published, it seemed farfetched that technology could reach the level of sophistication he described. Science fiction movies have since repeated and expanded upon this theme, portraying corporate anxieties and paranoid fears of people to be controlled by aliens, man-made machines and artificial intelligence. Neuromancer takes us into the subculture of cyberpunk, a dystopia of an amoral society ruled by abstract powers. Gibson creates a world of fear and terror where technology permeates this futuristic world into its smallest detail and instead of serving humanity, rises to become its ruler and God.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cyber Terrorism

    1724 Words  | 4 Pages

    The term “cyber terrorism” refers to the use of the Internet as a medium in which an attack can be launched such as hacking into electrical grids, security systems, and vital information networks. Over the past four decades, cyber terrorists have been using the Internet as an advanced communication tool in which to quickly spread and organize their members and resources. For instance, by using the instantaneous spread of information provided by the Internet, several terrorist’s groups have been able to quickly share information, coordinate attacks, spread propaganda, raise funds, and find new recruits for their cause. Instantaneous and unpredictable, the technological advantages these terrorists have obtained from using the Internet includes

    Read More

  • Computer Crime: Technology and Cyberspace

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    “As in the past, it is criminals who have been among the first to recognize the potential of a wide-open, sparsely populated, and poorly policed space (Fuller 11).” That is exactly what cyberspace was in the beginning, and most of it is new territory still. One way to become aware of the cyber-crimes one can fall victim to is to first know what types are out there. The top five cyber-crimes are the following: tax-refund fraud, corporate account takeover, identity theft, theft of sensitive data, and theft of intellectual property (Singleton 2). Also, all cyber-crimes have three things in common; the tools needed to commit the crime, a strategy on how to follow through with the crime, and the outcome which is the crime itself (Singleton 2). There are also different forms...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Cyber Security

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Albert Einstein once said that he “[does] not believe in immortality of the individual, and consider [‘s] ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no superhuman authority behind it”. Ethics matters not only in ones personal life but in society as a whole. It touches everything in today’s world. A major place that is affected by ethics nowadays is technology. With the development of new powerful technologies and better communication systems the Internet threats have reached a certain level of maturity that concerns many. Cyber Security has turned into a dependency for many, such as: private organizations, government health institutions and many companies. The amount of information available in these systems could compromise them and the many users they support. In the article” Data theft from firms topped a trillion dollars in 2008: study” cyber security is the main topic. The formal ethical systems that could justify the actions reported in the article, if these actions are consistent with either the ACM or IEEE codes of ethics, and if the behaviors are consistent with issues of privacy or intellectual property are all issues that will be further discussed.

    Read More

  • Federal Restrictions on the Internet

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    BRANDON, JOHN. "When Cybercriminals ATTACK." Computerworld 45.21 (2011): 26. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 6 Feb. 2014

    Read More

  • The Effects of Video Games

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    Video games and its effects on adolescents and responsibility of parents is a topic that is widely debated whether it’s the parent’s responsibility or the game industry should be regulated. The video games industry itself has been available to consume for only about the last 30 years. With that being said the topic is still rather new in terms of its effects but its effects on children can currently be measured. The industry is very unique in terms of entertainment because players are transported into the game its self essentially becoming part of the script.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Civic Hacking

    993 Words  | 2 Pages

    References to Beddoes’ hacks (Bisson) evoke resentment among readers; they see that black hat hackers gain more by participating in illicit activities than honest citizens do in a year of work, causing them to feel as if it is unfair to themselves because they are stealing from honest citizens like most readers would be. Also, in emphasizing the damages done by black hat hackers and the mysterious backgrounds they often seem to come from, fuel is added to the fire of an already negative connotation. As the other two articles mention, the common perception of hackers is that they are rebellious teenagers out to destroy the world regardless of the channel used. The background described in this article supports those theories when Beddoes speaks of his past as a teenager who started out with an innocent interest in hacking and then transitions into a rebellious malicious hacker after being rejected by the companies that he was trying to assist. Beddoes’ ethos also supports the goal of the article because he is a credible, well-established hacker in recent years. After almost pulling off a multimillion dollar heist, he is a respected yet accessible authority on the topic. Statistics to quantify the amount of data Beddoes stole in his hacking career provide the base to an argument supported by logos. Referring to those numbers also evokes strong emotions in accordance with the amount of people losing money and being victimized by hackers. Readers are inclined to feel sympathy towards the victims of the hackers, evoking an even greater amount of resentment towards the hackers. The content of Bisson’s article effectively supports a negative reaction to

    Read More

  • Cyber-Warfare: The Importance of the New Digital Battlefield

    2204 Words  | 5 Pages

    For thousands of years warfare remained relatively unchanged. While the tactics and weapons have changed as new methods of combat evolved, men and women or their weapons still had to meet at the same time and place in order to attack, defend, surrender or conquer. However, the advent of the of the internet has created a new realm of combat in which armies can remotely conduct surveillance, reconnaissance, espionage, and attacks from an ambiguous and space-less digital environment. Both state and non-state actors have already embraced this new realm and utilized both legal and illegal means to further facilitate their interests. What complicates cyber security further is as states attempt to protect themselves from cyber-warfare, private and commercial technological methods largely keeps pace with state technological developments, largely removing military advantages created through large militaries. Since the creation and implementation of international networking via the internet, the United States has adopted the technology within the military and government infrastructure. As a result, the United States has opened itself up to a new threat which must be actively addressed in order to protect the national security of the United States. Successful cyber-attacks originating in China, Russia, and the Middle East have already penetrated the United States military’s network infrastructure and leaked sensitive and classified information. While the size and the scope of the information breaches have not yet resulted in a grave threat to the United States, the increase in cyber-threats and cyber-attacks make cyber-warfare one of the most important national security issues facing the United States and the intelligence community. A ca...

    Read More

  • Applications Of Technology In The Twenty-First Century

    3031 Words  | 7 Pages

    There has never been a neutral or value-free, technology. All technologies are power. They evoke economic and social consequences in direct proportion to their dislocation of the existing economy and its institutions.

    Read More

  • Cyberpunk and Science Fiction

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    The stories in the book Cyberpunk seems to focus on the life of a hacker. The book follows the life events and trends that a hacker typically goes through. Individuals who are impressed by technology often become wrapped into a technological advancement such as the computer or telephone, and become engulfed in curiosity. However, at this point, these individuals are nothing more than a target market for the product. They not only test the power that comes from understanding what they have in their hands, they become obsessed with it, and even begin to abuse it. Now the person has crossed the line of a fan of a product and entered the realm of hackers. In well-known cases, the individuals who manipulate todays technology for personal gain or pleasure can be related to the villains in science fiction works. Todays hackers are the new generation of pioneers whom we fear because their knowledge gives them control over us. They rationalize their abuse and control over us for the good of technology and feel little or no remorse for any such unscrupulous actions.

    Read More

  • Ethics in Technology

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the early years of computers and computerized technology, computer engineers had to believe that their contribution to the development of computer technology would produce positive impacts on the people that would use it. During the infancy of computer technology, ethical issues concerning computer technology were almost nonexistent because computers back then were not as multifaceted as they are today. However, ethical issues relating to computer technology and cyber technology is undeniable in today’s society. Computer technology plays a crucial role in all aspects of our daily lives. Different forms of computer technology provide unique functionalities that allow people to perform daily activities effectively and efficiently. In modern society, we use computer and cyber technology to communicate with friends and family via social networking sites, participate in business transactions, and get current news. Different tasks require unique technological feature in computer technology to function properly. Although, unique technological features increase people’s proficiency in accomplishing various tasks, unique technological features in computer and cyber technology increase security vulnerabilities. In many cases, the security vulnerabilities in computer technology are exploited by cybercriminals to invade people’s privacy, and steal people’s identity. We know that computers have no moral compass; they cannot make moral decisions for themselves. Essentially, people make moral decisions that affect others positively or negatively depending on how they use computer technology. Some of the biggest ethical issues facing people in the computing environment include privacy concerns on the web and identity theft. Privacy concerns...

    Read More

More about Negative uses and effects of Technology in Neuromancer in connection to Avatar and Modern Cyber-warfare articles

Open Document