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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!husc6!m2c!wpi!dmorin
From: dmorin@wpi.wpi.edu (Duane D Morin)
Newsgroups: alt.security,alt.folklore.computers,comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Feedback on Computer Crime
Message-ID: <14443@wpi.wpi.edu>
Date: 8 Aug 90 05:35:15 GMT
References: <26581@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Reply-To: dmorin@wpi.wpi.edu (Duane D Morin)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester ,MA
Lines: 82

In article <26581@unix.cis.pitt.edu> scratch@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Steven J Owens) writes:
>I'd like to ask everybody here for some feedback on the ethical & social
>implications of computer crime - on both sides of the coin, the hackers,
>crackers and phreakers as well as the law enforcement people, the media, and
>the general public who have no idea what it's about.
>
...
>...  Now, I'm doing a sociology paper about computer crime and
>general implications in our society, and I'm hoping that somebody here can
>help me out.
>
>Facts and stories and anecdotes would be helpful, but what I'm really looking
>for here is OPINIONS, personal reactions and ideas about the general subject.
>If you don't mind adding a line about why you're interested in computers and
>what kind of experience you have, that would help as well.  Anybody out there
>with degrees in Computer Science and Sociology? :-)
>

Well, as a matter of fact, I DO have my degrees in sociology and computer 
science (well, I will.  Entering my final year in a month).  I am also an avid
studier of such things as the Hacker phenomenon, and how it has changed over
the years.  I would suggest your reading Hackers, by Steven Levy, but Im sure
that you have probably already done so, it is after all a classic in the field.

As Levy says, the hackers of yesteryear simply don't exist today.  People 
wanted the free exchange of information for the good of all, not for profit.
If you wrote a good program, you gave it to everyone because you were proud of
it, and if someone took your code and changed it so that it was better well,
then, good for them.  You were proud for them as well.  But today people don't
circulate software for the good of al concerned, they do it for personal gain.
Its not a case of "Hey, I just got the new Sierra game, lets look at their 
animation algorithm and see if we can implement it in our game", its more like
"If I get this home from the store and copy the manuall, then I can return it 
and give you guys all the copies you want. "  Hardly the same thing.  If thats
what the definition of hacking is today, and it certainly seems to be, then 
the original idea is completed vanished.

I dont think I necessarily approve of the Hacker Ethic:  for the most part, 
I think some of the original followers of the ethic were simply nuts.  Maybe
fanatic is a better word, or obsessed or compulsive.  Everything was a 
personal challenge, a new obstacle to overcome.  A robotic arm next to a 
computer was a challenge to write something to control that arm; a locked door
on a computer lab was a challlenge to get into that lab after hours; a 
password system was a challenge to look at other people's accounts.  These
challenges were met simply for the sake of meeting them, not causing havoc.
Any hacker worth his salt could easily crack a password security system and
get into any account he chose, but he wouldnt.  That was abuse of the privilege
and it just wasnt done.  Nowadays, wreaking havoc seems to be an end to itself.

The power given to someone who has such control over a computer is very great
power, and should be put under some sort of control.  There are incredible
guidelines written up in college handbooks, industry contracts, and even ACM
and IEEE for standards and practices, but a true hacker will simply break 
these rules because of the sole fact that they are there to be broken.  "As
long as I can do something and not get caught, Im better than you people." A
cheap attempt at self security, from a psychological standpoint.  

I dont want to start a flame war here, so please dont anyone misunderstand
me.  The term 'hacker' has gone through lots of changes in the years that it
has been around, and my use of it refers mainly to what Levy calls the first
generation hackers.  (For a better example, read the book).  Anyone who
considers themself a hacker and feels insulted by my comments, feel free
to comment back but please know the context that I am using the term in, 
as opposed to the way that you are using it.  

Those are my opinions.  Anyone else?

(If the gentleman that posted the original article is still interested in my
 opinions, I would appreciate his mailing a response back to me.  I could 
 take up pages and pages with stories and opinions, but I dont want to waste
 the bandwidth doing so.  )

>Steven J. Owens    |   Scratch@Pittvms    |   Scratch@unix.cis.pitt.edu
>
>"There's a long hard road and a full, hard drive  :  And a sector there
> where I feel alive  :  Every bit of every byte  :  Is written down once
> on the night  :  Networking, I'm user friendly..."
>
>	-- Warren Zevon, Networking, Transverse City

Duane Morin --- Society/Technology Studies
                Worcester Polytechnic Institutute