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Are hackers good citizens?

Are hackers good citizens? It depends on what you mean by "good."

By Gabriel EscoffierPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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Are hackers good citizens?
Photo by Joan Gamell on Unsplash

This is the most common question that comes to our minds when we think of hackers. Today, most of the people will tell you that hackers are bad and they are only dangerous to you and your computer or data. But, this is not the case always. A general perception of an average person is that anyone who knows how to hack is automatically a “hacker”.

The truth is, it takes a lot more than just knowing how to exploit and attack someone's system to become a hacker.

Hackers sometimes put others at risk.

Hackers are good citizens. They can be. But they sometimes put others at risk. What makes a hacker a good citizen? It's about the intent of their actions, and whether they are operating within the law. In other words, it's about ethics. "Ethics is about what you do as opposed to what you know," said Benjamin Dean, an associate professor in the School of Computing at DePaul University who studies cybersecurity and policy issues.

"You could have all the answers to every exam question, but if you don't show up for class or give the right answers when asked, then you're not going to get an A." Hackers who exploit vulnerabilities in software or systems are often motivated by curiosity or to prove their skill or prowess at breaking things — but not always maliciously so.

Many hackers find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they break into computer systems without authorization and cause harm through their actions or disclose security vulnerabilities that may not have been obvious before they revealed them publicly (or exploited them).

Many hackers develop software and tools that are used by millions of people.

A hacker is a person who uses his/her technical knowledge to overcome a problem. That may be something as simple as resetting your lost password or unlocking a locked phone, to more complicated things like hacking into someone else's computer or system. The word hacker has been used in different contexts over the years and today it refers to someone who uses their technical know-how to solve problems.

For example, many hackers develop software and tools that are used by millions of people every day.

Hackers are often very clever, resourceful, and inventive.

"Hackers" have a bad reputation. They're portrayed as criminals and vandals who break into computer systems to steal information or destroy data. But this isn't always the case.

Some hackers are good citizens who use their skills for good purposes. Some even help protect people from cybercrime.

Some hackers are only interested in fame and attention.

Are hackers good citizens? Hackers are people who find ways to break into computer systems and networks. Some hackers are only interested in fame and attention. These people are called script kiddies because they borrow the tools of real hackers and use them to attack websites they want to vandalize or deface.

Other hackers use their knowledge and skills for good purposes — sometimes, even legal ones! Examples of Good Hacker Behavior A few years ago, a group of international hackers known as Anonymous hacked an Internet service provider (ISP) called Stratfor Global Intelligence Services and posted its customers' credit card information online.

This was not a good thing to do at all! But before anyone could stop them, another group of hackers broke into the same site and deleted all of that data! They also left a message saying that they were doing this "in protest against SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act], PIPA [Protect IP Act] and CISPA [Cyber Intelligence Sharing Protection Act]." In other words, they were standing up for the rights of Internet users everywhere by preventing these companies from collecting personal information without permission from its owners first.

To Sum Up

Attitudes towards hackers are definitely changing. Hacking used to be portrayed in a very negative fashion, as something only psychopaths and criminals would do. After all, "hacking" was historically considered a term for breaking into computers and stealing data or destroying them in the process. But public perception of hackers is changing, largely because the hacking community has developed its own culture.

People want to know more about the different roles of hackers and what motivates this group of people to do what they do. This is why you keep hearing stories about how hackers were good citizens, once again shedding light on this controversial yet fascinating group of people.

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About the Creator

Gabriel Escoffier

👋 I'm a digital marketing nerd and aspiring writer. I'm living out of my parents basement in Hamilton Ontario 🏠 writing about marketing, entrepreneurship and travel on my blog.

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