Posted on 03/03/2021 1:39:03 PM PST by dayglored
Hackers are friends not foes, says Alyssa Miller in this opening argument for our latest debate
This week's motion is: Hacking is not a crime, and the media should stop using 'hacker' as a pejorative.
And now, arguing FOR the motion is ALYSSA MILLER...
Using the term “hacker” to describe cyber criminals is an unfortunate habit that plagues modern media. The accompanying imagery of hoodie-clad individuals hunched over computer displays in darkened rooms exacerbates the issue. The predominance of associating hacker with cyber criminals has exploded as cyber-attacks and breaches have become regular topics in mainstream media. However, using “hacker” in such a pejorative manner is perilous, both for its lack of precision and the counter-productive impact it can have on society.
Hacker has been used in connection with technology since at least the 1950s when a student in MIT’s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) produced a dictionary of terms that defines both “hack” and “hacker.” At the time, the terms didn’t denote any form of criminality or ill intent. In fact in an annotated version of the dictionary that Peter Samson republished in September of 2005, he states his intended meaning of a hack as an “unconventional or unorthodox application of technology” and a hacker as one who “avoids the standard solution.”
However, since those beginnings, hacker has taken on more of a dual meaning. The concept of good and bad hackers is evident across society. The Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries each provide dueling definitions of hackers as both technology enthusiasts and criminal actors. Three popular hacker movies of the 1990s – Sneakers, Hackers, and The Net – depict conflicts between good hackers and criminal hackers. Including both noble and malicious actors under the same hacker umbrella confirms that hacking is a concept that is separate from one’s motivations or intentions.
The false equivalence between hacker and cyber criminal is also evident when, in some cases, the perpetrators of a crime may not be hackers at all. In a world where malware, ransomware, and other tools of the criminal trade are packaged and sold as commodity kits requiring no technological expertise, claiming the user of such a kit to be a hacker is dubious at best. Stating that hackers stole 3 million health records when the actors are not known is akin to claiming firearms enthusiasts robbed a bank simply because they were armed with guns.
Stating that hackers stole 3 million health records when the actors are not known is akin to claiming firearms enthusiasts robbed a bank simply because they were armed with guns
But it’s more than just the lack of precision that is problematic. Using hacker as a pejorative also distorts social views of hackers, fostering the belief that hackers are inherently malicious in nature. However, corporate America has shown us that clearly this is not the case. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed world-wide as so-called ethical hackers to help businesses find and remediate security vulnerabilities in their systems. Some organizations leverage bug-bounty programs, paying hackers that find and report security flaws in their systems. As Keren Elazari, security analyst and speaker put it, hackers are “the immune system of the internet.”
Allowing our media representations to portray hacker as equivalent to criminal actors makes the work of principled hackers even harder. For instance, in April of 2019, YouTube infamously banned “Instructional hacking and phishing” videos on their platform. Over the following months, many online content creators whose videos helped hackers learn the trade and advance their skills to perform better in their jobs, saw their channels demonetized and their content removed from the site. Thus, important resources for developing skilled defenders against cyber-criminals all at once were taken away.
It is important that the media be an active participant in accurately portraying the difference between hacking and criminal activity. Using inexact language and negatively influencing societal perception only serves to drive a wedge between those that count on technology to support their digital way of life and those best equipped to help defend it. ®
Cast your vote below, though you may want to wait until you see the against argument later today. You can track the debate's progress here.
VOTE HERE: https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/03/debate_hackers_for/
I’m betting this is actually related to the pejorative “hack”, which I have to believe has been around longer than the ‘50s. In fact it’s probably from Hackney horse or cab. I don’t know but surmise all this. Somehow a “hack” is someone who’s no good at something.
I first learned of "hack" and "hacker" in the positive sense when a HS friend of mine went to MIT and learned about the various hacks done there.
If you are hired by the owner to come to a business or home then you are not burgling or trespassing. Otherwise, you are.
People diddling around in other people’s computers are no better than burglars and trespassers, yes?
Hacking is NOT a crime? Of course it is. Who is this idiot?
18 U.S. Code § 1030 - Fraud and related activity in connection with computers
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1030
This person isn’t very smart.
She's an "originalist", one who believes in not perverting meaning to a modern fad. You are familiar with the concept, yes?
Good lord, Friend, learn a bit about the term "hacker" (and "hack" and "hacking"). They're not what you apparently think they are.
Except it is. A programmer from Cupertino told me so , around 1980.
*sigh* another one. Please see above, comment #8.
That is asinine logic.
In common usage, normal people view "hacker" as a pejorative term. Just because some computer enthusiasts (who only muddle in their own systems screwing around and experimenting and don't break into others or steal) take issue with the pejorative use of the term doesn't make them right.
Normal people would view them rightly as geeks, and might good naturedly call them "hackers" as a joke. If they want to call themselves hackers as a term of endearment to their hobby, they are entitled to.
Because of the pain, anguish, stress, lost time, and money that hackers have caused me in my personal and professional life, I view these people with extreme prejudice.
And I have suffered personally and professionally at the hands of these criminals we call hackers. I wouldn't have a problem if someone took a baseball bat to their hands as punishment.
And I am not kidding. I work in an industry where people can be physically harmed by this activity, people lose their jobs over it, we have huge losses in productivity and functionality as a result of it, so I have zero-ZERO tolerance or patience with it.
I’d be happy if the term “hack” were used only for things having to do with computers. I think it’s ridiculous for it to be used for every household tip, as in “Here’s a hack for getting dog-pee odor out of a carpet.” It just seems pretentious.
I'm rather disappointed to see that most of our FReepers are perfectly willing to fall in line with the Fake News Media.
You would think that on a Conservative website, the term "Original Meaning" would carry some weight.
The author of the "FOR" argument isn't arguing in favor of cyber crime, for God's sake. She's arguing that we should find another word for it, and let "hack" go back to what it used to mean -- something positive done in an unconventional or innovative way.
And yet, ironically, that's closer to the correct, original meaning of "hack": An unconventional but successful method.
And gay means happy.
Yes. An "originalist". I'll bet this "scientifically based person" doesn't believe that XX=Female and XY=Male.
You Can’t use the term Jerry-Rig. Definitely racist
Are you willing to apply that concept to the Constitution?:
In common usage, normal people view "The Constitution" as a Living Document, open to any sort of change based on modern whims. Just because some "Conservatives" and "Originalists" (who only muddle in their own forums) take issue with the modern use of the term doesn't make them right.I didn't think so.
We need a different term for "cyber criminal" that rolls off the tongue like "hacker" does. For a while "cracker" tried to fill that role, but it didn't catch on for various obvious reasons.
I also fight the battle against "enthused." It is most definitely not a word.
However, since ignorance is much more prevalent and insistent in this world, those who know better tend to lose the war in things like this.
Oops, my bad. "Jury-rig"?
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