Hacker Ethics

1. Hacker Ethics Kim Bissett Sabrina Short

2. Hacker Ethic: In General • Freedom of Information • The web is not physical; it couldn’t be interpreted as property, so it can be accessed by the public • Security/Privacy • Hackers do not want a real-life Big Brother society (from Orwell’s 1984). During the 80s, they discovered a major flaw in a credit firm, where the general public did not know that the firm was collecting their information

3. Hackers do have ethics! • Hackers maintain a trust system; the subculture operates in a tight network • Hackers are not entirely good, nor are they just as bad. • Intentions are based on utilitarianism (Mills)

4. Boundaries in the Hacker Ethic • They can target government and corporate systems, but not those of an individual or a nonprofit organization. The cause of the organization is key. • The hackers should share information with others within the group. They cannot brag, expose their knowledge to the outside world, spy on users, or trash systems.

5. Kevin Mitnick • Hacked into the NORAD system in the 1980s • Convicted and sent into prison on two occasions (1988 and 1995) • On the second time, Mitnick broke into an email system (not known if he was spying on it, which would violate the hacker ethics.) • If he was caught the first time, Mitnick should have kept a lower profile. • Hackers get exposed to the mainstream, mostly by the government, when they disregard the secrecy set forth by the hacker ethic.

6. Cyberactivism and Hacktivism • Cyberactivism is a form of protest that alerts society of social problems, such as poverty, through listservs, virtual sit-ins, and creating websites to attract the attention of the public. • The computer is proving to be a new medium for the 21st century.

7. Cyberactivism and Hacktivism 2 • Hacktivism is the intentional vandalism of websites that do not support or alert the attention of social problems. • Such political clash can cause jeopardy in national identity. • This is an extreme form of cyberactivism, therefore it is not practiced as much. • New protest techniques used in the WTO Protests,Battle in Seattle, in 1999.

8. Kant’s Philosophy • German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) • determined by the action rather than the intent or outcome. • moral ideal that action out weighs consequence. • All actions should be guided by moral laws, and these laws are universal.

9. Duty is what counts! • what we want is of no importance; duty is what counts. • Hacking into systems to gain knowledge of the software or to point out flaws is wrong, even if no damage is done to the system. • Breaking and Entering- if you break into someone’s house, but don’t take anything or break anything you are still committing a crime. • Taking away a person’s sense of security.

10. information IS property • According to United Kingdom, with the Criminal Damage Act of 1971. • Offender in the UK was convicted of property damage even though the property was not tangible and the damage could only be determined by the machine. • The Computer Misuse Act of 1990 • “unauthorized access” • “data modification” • makes crimes easier to prosecute.

11. Public Information • Some information on the internet is made accessible to the public. • but should not be destroyed or edited without authorization. • Other information that is not purposefully made accessible • Account numbers and personal information should not be sought after regardless of one’s intentions.

12. International Legislation • International groups like the United Nations and the Council of Europe are writing legislation that applies internationally. • Three types of Cybercrime as using a computer as a: • target- spreading viruses • tool- using a computer to commit traditional crimes such as credit card fraud • accessory- to store illegal or stolen information.

13. Freedom of Speech • Hacktivism violates people’s first amendment rights of Freedom of Speech. • instead create you own website or blog rather than editing the site of a political group. • According to Kant: no ones rights should be taken at the expense of another’s because all of mankind is equal.

14. Hidden Subculture • Hackers design this subculture and trust system so they don’t get caught. • keep a low profile • don’t brag about what you are doing to people outside of the network • don’t narc on a fellow hacker if you are caught • Why? • hackers know what they are doing is wrong and they develop a system of “cultural norms” to avoid prosecution.

15. what do YOU think? • Hacking into government systems to point out security flaws without harm to the system? • Ethical? • Not Ethical? • Hacking into a home computer to point out security flaws? • Ethical? • Not Ethical?

16. what do YOU think? • A graduate student specializing in computer security creates a website similar to Northwest Airlines to demonstrate that terrorists can make fake boarding passes. • Ethical? • Not ethical?

17. what do YOU think? • A data collecting company claims to keep certain information private, such as SSN and account numbers. A hacker discovers that the company did not keep its promise. The private information is actually published on the report. The hacker makes his findings public in a news outlet. • Ethical? • Not ethical?

18. what do YOU think? • Hacking into the website of a political candidate and editing information because you disagree with his position? • Ethical? • Not Ethical?