Essay/Term paper: Hacking

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Technology

Hacking

Jenna Gray p.1

Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers. "Teenager Areested in
Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"....Damn kids.
They're all alike. But did you , in your three-piece psychology and 1950's
technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder
what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him? I am a
hacker, enter my world...Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm in
junior high or high school. I've listened to teachers expain for the fifteenth
time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it "No, Ms. Smith, I didn't show my
work. I did it in my head..." Damn kid . Probably copied it. They're all alike.
I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It
does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it's because i screwed it up. Not
because it doesn't like me... Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I'm a smart
ass... Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here... Damn kid. All he does
is play games. They're all alike. And then it happened... a door opened to a
world... rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins,
an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is
sought... a board is found. "This is it... this is where I belong... "I know
everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to them, may never
hear from them again... I know you all... Damn kid. Tying up the phone line
again. They're all alike... you bet you ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-
fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak.. the bits of meat that you
did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by
sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found
us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert. This is
our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the
baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be
dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiterring gluttons, and you call us criminals.
We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge.. and you call
us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without
religious bias...and you call us criminals? Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is
that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think
, not what they look like. My crime is that of out smarting you, something that
you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. you may
stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.

Hacking is a serious offense. And I think that I agree w/Jansie Kotze's
theories and she explains a lot of the things that I was wondering about. I
think that she had a lot to say, and she did it very well.

On the other hand, the boy who is supposedly in junior high has serious
problems. After reading the page he had written, it concluded that I was
#27,461 to read his homepage. I was shocked.......and I wondered how many
little kids under 12 years old had been in there and got all sorts of
ideas.....bad ideas. He had everything from viruses to download and other tips.
He even had a "cookbook" that he called the infection connection.

I never thought about hacking and phreaking all too much until now. Sure, kids
give ea. other little viruses for kicks, but when you can break passwords and
break security grounds, that is getting out of hand. I think that it is all
just a wanting to know.

He even concluded in a paragraph that he said that we could easily find out his
phone # and track him down. He even put a smily face after the sentence....
Like it was a joke to be stalked. I think there are a lot of sick people in
this world that aren't computer nerds. They are maniacs that have fun torturing
other people, and proving they can break into any file, do anything, and nothing
will stop them.

There was so much information that it was mind boggling. I didn't want to look
at it, because it was really is intriguing..interesting. But I finally
concluded that I was actually scared. In those chatrooms, people can send
viruses just like that. Mess up your whole netscape if you open the file that
they send you. Even in this particular guy's homepage, he could have planted a
virus so that when you went into a particular area, a virus would download. I
was cautious of where I went, but I think that they wouldn't do that. That
would give them away to easily. I think that the reason why they put up a
homepage, is to prove their knowledge is great.........and they are actually
competing one another to be the best....and not get caught.

This guy was a kid himself..and he was mocking us all. I don't see why he
needed to brag, but I guess every kid wants to be noticed. Well, in my mind, he
succeeded. He is living in the future technology...and way more advanced than
even I. I envy him in some ways, but then I don't. Just one slip and they
catch him, bam, he's in jail. I think I'll live on the safe track and use the
technology wisely and respect others that also have the same technology and
knowledges as I.