The picture that springs to mind when the word Hackers is mentioned would be a geeky mid 20s guy with nothing but bad intentions. However is this a inaccurate interpretation of a hacker. we have seen that in fact hackers can be used for good and even help fight crime (literally). With constant threats of viruses, Trojans, worms, malware and various other things that can potentially take over and destroy your computer, it is easy to forget that hackers can and actually do work to help us.
White flag hackers have been around just as long as black flag hackers and are just as effective. Many hackers have a full time career helping companies set up networks and systems that are fully protected and cannot be hacked. how do they do this? By actually hacking into the system to start with, which kind of makes sense when you think about it. However these skills can be used against systems albeit in a positive way. Take anonymous for example. Although this group is highly controversial and have been blamed for hacking into well known systems, it is a way of making a protest. Looking at the groups targets: Sony, Facebook and Amazon, each one of these companies were targeted due to the way in which they treated their users and the user's details. A normal protest would consist of hundreds or thousands of like minded people shouting and waving signs outside a store or down a street usually halting business for that organization. But these companies are completely virtual so using conventional methods would be useless. Henceforth using a new type of protest, hackers are able to halt business for a company in order to get their message across.
Of course i can not sit here and praise all hackers as it is well known that hackers can and are very dangerous. Hackers have been known to steal information for personal gain which can include anything from money to a persons details. As Ted stated in the lecture some of these hacker groups are in it mainly 'for the lulz'. It is these groups that are in my opinion the most dangerous. Without any agenda or real targets, these groups simply operate to cause anarchy. These groups are not looking for any for information to steal or use, instead they seek only to corrupt. Without the help of the white flag hackers the internet as we know it today could have been very different.
p.s. This blog was a little behind the times i know but better late then never.
In the virtual world, the line between ethical and unethical becomes blurry, hacking issue is a case in point. Hacking would be used in a good way or bad way,. The fact is hacking may destroy any system of computer, even government system. Hackers looking for two things, the one is profit and the other one is to seek to corrupt. As you mention that these groups are not looking for any for information to steal or use, instead they seek only to corrupt. Personally, I do not think hacking is a good thing in a sense, whereas hacking can disclose truth. Form that point, hacking is an unethical action, whereas in a sense it can promote democracy.
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