Ethical Hacking

The word hacking, usually associated with information technology, is a term used for the development of creative solutions for a problem by someone in a non-professional environment. With the introduction of personal computers and the internet, anyone could create solutions to problems in computer science. This led to the emergence of “hacker culture”, leading to the decentralization of computer industry (Hicks, 2014).

Almost 90 percent of our society now depends on complex computer based system. With the increasingly use of computer and explosive growth of the Internet has brought many good things: electronic commerce, online banking, e-mail, video conferencing etc. The improvement of systems security to prevent criminal hacker has become an important concern to society. There are many ways to protect those information systems; it seems that the Ethical Hacking is a better way. Therefore, whether to teach or not teach the "Ethical Hacking" as a course in Tertiary education has become an interesting argument. In this article will analysis the ethical, legal, and ethical implications of this issue.

In reality, hackers are a variety of people, with a range of reasons for what they do. Hacking began in the late seventies and early eighties out of curiosity. Quickly, people began to realize the potential for destruction through cyber attacks. From 2008 to 2012, the hacktivist group Anonymous, became prevalent, because pretty much any amateur with a cause what kind of cause could join Anonymous.. But after several group figureheads were arrested, the general public was deterred from participating this hacktivist group.

These are the people setting the very negative example of computer literate people around the world. They know no morals, or ethical value behind what they do, but to compromise, and cause havoc upon the end user computing world. Hackers fall into two categories: Black Hat and White Hat Hackers. While Black Hat hackers illegally crack into systems for malicious reasons, their White Hat counterparts probe and test for security flaws and IT research (Black Hat/White Hat). The term "hacker" can be explained as a person who enjoys learning the details of a computer system and how to stretch their capabilities beyond a person who learns the bare minimum to use a computer (Palmer). By this definition, a hacker can be anyone who is willing to expand their knowledge with a computer to better benefit themselves, or more importantly, others.

Hacking is generally accompanied by a negative connotation. In this article, however, the reader is subjected to a new definition of hacking, and it is extremely progressive and interesting. In their abstract, authors Gregory Donovan and Cindi Katz state “we focus on these issues through the lens of technological interactions known as ‘hacking,’ wherein people playfully engage computer technologies for the intrinsic pleasure of seeing what they can do” (197). It is clear from this sentence that these authors have a unique outlook on hacking, and as the reader gets farther into the article he or she begins to derive the ultimate goal of the article: to depict hacking not as a negative thing, but rather one of a beneficial, mind-developing learning tool for children to better understand computers and technology that they will be using for their whole lives.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines hacking as “a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage, etc.: a person who hacks into a computer system” (Merriam Webster Dictionary, n.d. para. 1). I think the public has made

Actual hackers are content with the free spread of information and thought. The people that technically inclined individuals avoid and sometimes fear are the delinquents and vandals who find it amusing to damage and ruin data. In an attempt to make people think they are anything more than attention-starved brats with computers, these vandals prefer to be called hackers.

The Truth about Hackers In the winter of the year 2000 an eighteen year old hacker, who went by the name Curador accessed about 26, 000 credit card numbers and put them on the internet. With the help of an ex-hacker, Curador was eventually tracked down and sentenced. All of this was explained in a frontline interview with Curador himself also known as Raphael Gray. Who are these so called hackers? Are peoples assumptions about teenage hackers correct? In 1995 the movie Hackers portrayed the images and lifestyles of hackers similar to the one mentioned above. The characters in Hackers show a media example of finding themselves in cyberspace by forming a community which creates their own boundaries. According to

Hacking in its general terms is defined as the process in which an attacker(hacker) tries to find out the

Throughout the years the rate of computer crime has only been getting worse. For one thing the security development is falling behind the hackers’ knowledge how to bypass the latest security advancements. If the hackers’ are ahead of the newest security breaches then it does no good on helping the average person because they are at risk of having information stole from them at any point in time (Martin). If new security advancements don’t find a way to get back in front of the hackers’ knowledge then this worldly known problem will only continue to escalate throughout the next generations and the following making them have to work harder to solve the problems that we created for them and did nothing to fix it (Bellmore). Right now it is a major problem that needs to be resolved but it has to be acted upon very soon with determination or else it will just continue until the point where we lose control and hackers’ rule the world and nobody can stop them (O'Harrow). In order to unravel this difficult situation it is important that these current issues we are involved in are throw of the track of going on a express train the wrong direction to the dark side of the hackers’ we need help to bring it back to the light.

However, the term “misuse” can refer to something as simple as gaining access to an email system for spamming purposes or as grave as stealing personal or confidential information for various illegal reasons (Wilson, 2001). Hacking does not comprise a mere sequence of commands or operation as many perceive, but a skill. It is not just a simple term either, thus the wealth of definition and types of hacking. Cyber hacking is also defined as the practice of altering computer software and hardware with the purpose of achieving a goal that is beyond what it was originality created for. Those who partake in this practice are typically referred to as hackers (Negi, 2011).

Hacking is often also defined, more negatively, as the gaining of such unauthorized access for malicious purposes, to steal information and software or to corrupt data or disrupt system operations. Self-identified hackers, however, make a distinction between non-malicious break-ins, which they describe as hacking, and malicious and disruptive break-ins, which they call cracking.

In the recent past there have been developments and issues that have arisen in regards to the internet. One development and issue is ethical hacking. To understand ethical hacking one must be able to define what it means to be a hacker. “A hacker is an individual who intends to gain unauthorized access to a computer system” (Laudon & Traver, 2015). Oxford Dictionaries defines an ethical hacker as “a person who hacks into a computer network in order to test or evaluate its security, rather than with malicious or criminal intent” (Ethical Hacker, n.d.). In other words, an ethical hacker aims to discover if any vulnerabilities exist in the system so the vulnerabilities can be fixed before a malicious hacker can exploit them. With ethical hacking being a new development, there have been news articles discussing the boons and concerns of its practice.

Hacking is an illegal activity that expert computer programmers do in order to access someone else 's personal data or information without permission. These people have developed skills to dominate and break through the software. They called themselves hackers. Some hackers consider hacking as an art. In addition, Hackers usually use the computer and the Internet to hack into the software system remotely which means they can do it even if they live in entirely different regions. Hacking has threatened the security of all people, companies and governments all over the world because hacking can cause harmful consequences, such as the installation of malicious software or damage the software (Merriam-Webster), (What Is Computer Hacking).

With the tremendous advancement of Internet, different aspects of it are achieving the highest peak of growth. An example of it is e-commerce. More and more computers get connected to the Internet, wireless devices and networks are booming and sooner or later, nearly every electronic device may have its own IP address. The complexity of networks is increasing, the software on devices gets more sophisticated and user friendly – interacting with other devices and people are a main issues. At the same time, the complexity of the involved software grows, life cycles are getting shorter and maintaining high quality is difficult. Most users want (or need) to have access to information from all over the