One thing I believe for almost all aspects of life is that you should learn about something before talking about it, judging it, and condemning it. Movies and TV shows, despite what people think, are rarely accurate portrayals of hackers. I've read hacker literature and I've tried to learn, but it's hard to find up-to-date stuff, and the knowledge required is in areas that I don't currently posess. However, one thing that I have seen that is in common in all of the text files, word documents, acrobat files, etc that I have read is a code of ethics. Hacking for the large part is not about destroying. It's not about stealing. It's not about anything that the movies tell you. It's about knowledge. It's about learning. It's about the thrill of seeing if you can. Why did you go skydiving? Because I can. Why did you go parasailing? Because it's there. Why did you go scubadiving? So I can see. Why did you hack the network? Because I can. Because it's there. So I can see. If I ever learn to hack and hack something, it won't be for personal gain. It won't be to cause damage. I won't be hacking secrets from the FBI or stealing money from the local bank. I'll put a text file on my friends desktop that says "Told you I'd get you some day. -Adam". Why? Simply to see if I can.
I will admit, there are people who don't follow the code of ethics. They hack to damage, to steal, etc. But they are the small percentage that give the entire community a bad name.
Ok, I ranted again. I do this alot. Here is my rant disclaimer. Don't comment if you haven't read through, don't misquote, and if I was unclear of if you don't understand, please ask without bashing and I'll be happy to explain.
