5. Hacking and Property
Info
The term was first coined in the 1950’s and 1960’s, at the MIT Tech Railway Club
- “Hacker” was a term of pride. A “hack” was a new piece of technical equipment which was useful and which displayed great technical skill
Types of Hackers
Hackers;
- People who gain access to computer systems in order to access information or perform other activities; often, but not necessarily, illegally
White Hat
- Typically both ethically and legally legitimate
- They access systems with consent to identify flaws in security, then report them to the company
Black Hat
- Typically access computers without consent
- Manipulate flaws in security for their own gain
Grey Hat
- Morally “grey”
- They might, for instance, hack into a system without consent, but then reveal the security flaws to the company afterwards
Ethics and Laws
Legal
- White hat
Illegal - Black hat
- Grey hat
Hacking and Property
Reasons Against Hacking
- Hacking can threaten privacy; it exposes private data and information to the hacker and anyone that the hacker transfers this to
- Hacking can infringe property; it accesses another person’s property and may “steal” it
- Hack can occur without the consent of the person whose property is targeted
Property
Differences between real-world and online theft:
- When you steal information online, the owner of the information still has it, they are not deprived of anything
- Information can be copied without ‘cost’
Similarities between real-world and online theft - Theft of information often involves an invasion of privacy or a virtual “breaking and entering” to be accessed
- If what is stolen is your intellectual property (e.g. a film you made), it may not be as valuable once duplicated/stolen
Consent
Consent is vital to the permissibly of many acts
- It is sometimes called “moral magic” because it can turn wrongful acts into permissible acts
- We can think of it as giving permission
TinKode
- TinKode is a Romanian hacker who illegally accessed numerous computer systems, including government and military websites
- TinKode would publish screenshots and passwords to embarrass the owners
- TinKode wanted to embarrass organisations into improving their internet security, and gain some notoriety. He did not seek financial or personal gain
- TinKode compared his activities to a free security audit:
- “I don’t do bad things. I only find and make public the info. Afterwards I send an email to them to fix the holes. It’s like a security audit, but for free”
- TinKode’s activities were found to be illegal
- Once his identity was uncovered in 2012, the Romanian hacker received a two year prison sentence and a €93,000 fine