The Human Factor in Cyber Security - Essay Example

?Running Head: ETHICS Ethics of Hacking [Institutes Ethics of Hacking Introduction For a naive yet cognitive mind, the world renders rather few similarities between the advancements attained by the mankind in ancient times, and what the world relishes today. The complexity of the task compels the human mind to embark on the journey from the ancient times to today’s era, and acknowledge the marvels of the binary digital world, that is computer and subsequently the advent of internet. It will not totally inaccurate to eloquently articulate that over the time what has not changed, is the basic human nature, and the devil that resides in it; which tends to utilise every phenomenon to its utmost gain; and in today’s world it is the technology and power of the binary world. For numerous cognitive minds, as the world has advanced over time, even the criminal patterns have discovered their new courses to satisfy the devil inside them. However, at this point it is essential that a clear distinction is drawn between the engagement of the ethical aspect, in endeavours that are believed to be rather criminal and immoral in nature, such as hacking. Before assimilation is rendered between the engagement of ethics, in the affair of hacking, it is highly imperative that a clear understanding is acquired, concerning the connotations attached to the phenomenon of ethics, as well as hacking. Primarily, on a rather basic level, the term Ethics, eloquently denote the motivation of the human acts or endeavours, based on the ideas of right and wrong, and the basic comprehension of the moral values and rules, pertaining to a substantial human intent, or potential activity. Hacking As discussed earlier, there have been numerous human practices that have altered the courses pertaining to the endowments rendered by the modern world, and amongst them is the phenomenon of hacking. It is highly imperative that before any substantial judgment is laid down regarding the involvement of ethics in hacking, the core construct of this phenomenon is comprehended. For a naive mind, the term hacking denotes the activity of cutting through someone’s computer or network system, and either gaining its entire control, or spifflicating the systems, the data or steal the records found in that system. Interestingly, numerous intentions are believed to be associated with such activity; for instance, as mentioned earlier, it is executed either to gain total control over someone’s network system or gain hold of substantial data and records; however, numerous immature minds, also execute such activities merely for fun and recreational purposes, either in a competition with their peer, or just to prove their mastered computer skills to themselves or their associates. Ethics of Hacking Interestingly, the primary connotation attached to the term hacking is widely negative and rather criminal in nature; therefore, It is interesting for a common mind to fight the comprehension of the involvement of the ethics in any possible criminal activity; either it is carried for the leisure purpose, or some other underlying objectives. With the passage of time, courtesy, the advent of technology, even the individuals involved in the acts of hacking have now turned into a community; and even they find it obligated to pursue their activities within a designated boundary or limit. It is imperative that a clear distinction id lay down between those who rigorously revere the aspect of ethics in this phenomenon (being hackers themselves), and those who ridicule the notion of ethics, and do as they please. According to numerous observers, the individuals who take pride in ridiculing the notion of ethics in hacking must simply be graded as computer criminals or terrorists rather than hackers. Now if the both terms, ethics and hacking are taken together, it can easily be assimilated that the act of involving oneself in the criminal intent, pertaining to the computerized activities; however, with a moral aspect attributed to it, or pursuing those activities for the goods, rather than pleasing the deeply imbedded evil aspirations of the human nature (Lynch, 2005, p. 9). Key Facets or Aspects of Ethics of Hacking It is a common belief, and is widely accepted that ever act and ever phenomenon has two aspects associated with it, the adverse and the advantageous. If the same belief is to be implemented on the phenomenon of hacking, which is believed to be a criminal and unacceptable activity, by a naive mind, then it will dawned upon a common man, that even this phenomenon endures some ethics, and propels the key player (hacker) to be beneficial, rather than a threat or detriment for others. Amongst the pivotal aspects of ethics of hacking, is the aspect of “ethics” or moral believes to be of help and assistance. There are numerous instances in which the computer geniuses or the hackers have been of assistance in enabling a certain company or other respective party to check the validity and level of their security software or systems. They tend to discover the weak points of those systems, and bring in to the knowledge of the respective party, rather than taking undue advantage of it (Cross, 2006, pp. 37). Yet another connotation attached to ethical hacking, pertains to the aspect of privacy. The prime notion that a common man generates, from the concept of hacking, ideally resides at the fact of a dire intrusion on to someone’s privacy, and hence compels the person to fight for the thought of believing an ethical aspect that pertains to hacking, which would revere the privacy of a user. There are numerous hackers, which sternly believe that not only is it imperative, but also ethically demanding that the anonymity of the user is preserved and taken care of. For generation of certain database, the hackers are demanded to render the information or records of certain individuals; in this regard it is imperative that the user is given some other identity, like a code or a number rather than his name being apparent on the database. The ethics of hacking also enable the respective individuals to be an integral figure for defending the country against any potential foreign (terrorist) threats. Therefore, the ethics of hacking compel or rather motivate the respective individual to pursue his activities (hacking) for the security purposes. It seems as if this millennium, right from the beginning has brought along with it security concerns for the western world. Being embroiled in constant apprehension of another potential attack from the notorious terrorist organizations of the world, the security forces of numerous countries, along with England and America have resorted to employ offensive approaches rather than the tradition defensives motives. Instead of being a victim of such horrendous attacks again, the organizations concerned with the national security, have taken a step forward for breaking down the motives of these malign group, before they can be detrimental to the nation. In order to attain this purpose, the organizations concerned with the national security, have hired numerous astute hackers, and have directed them to enable the security organizations to gain access to the systems of the potential terrorists, so that not only their horrendous plans can be assimilated, but also the security of the nation can be planned accordingly. Moreover, in most cases the hackers are even directed to crack the systems of the terrorist and steal important information or data, and even for disabling their systems (Friedman, 2012, pp. 90). Conclusion It will not be wrong to eloquently articulate that the ethics that pertain to the phenomenon of hacking are far more than what has been mentioned earlier. However, the core objective lies into bringing the notion of right and wrong in an activity, which is widely looked down upon. The comprehension of ethics of hacking enables a naive mind to understand the fact that if an individual opts to utilize his skills in the righteous manner, for rendering assistance and help to those who seek to evade themselves from future threats, then even a negative act can also find some nobility in it. As discussed earlier, the primary connotation of ethics refer to the beliefs of right and wrong. Similarly, bearing in mind the same beliefs of right and wrong, there are numerous hackers, which believe it to be their ethical duty to enable the individuals or even renowned corporations to help them in regaining control or possession of their programs and software that have been subjected to hacking by some notorious and unethical member of their extensive community. Therefore, amongst the various ethics of hacking, is hacking to regain the possession. As mentioned earlier, there are a few black sheep in this community that deliberately choose to overlook the core aspect of ethics and the notion of right and wrong in this act, and tend to employ their knowledge and skills to relish their abilities or for harassing other people, or even corporations. Therefore, such individuals who have deliberately dented the privacy of other users, or have gained possession of their records, information or important data, the ethical hackers employ their skills and abilities, to enable the deprived parties to regain the possession of their data or privacy, and building their systems strong enough, so that the threat of being subjected to potential hacking activities is astutely evaded (Perina, 2004, p. 3). References Cross, T (2006), 'Academic Freedom And The Hacker Ethic', Communications Of The ACM, 49, 6, pp. 37-40 Friedman, N (2012), 'The Human Factor in Cyber Security', U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 138, 4, pp. 90-91 Goldsborough (1999), 'Computers and ethics: Doing the right thing', New Orleans Citybusiness (1994 To 2008), 20, 18, p. 20 Lynch, D (2005), 'More to Hacking Than Ethics', Infoworld, 27, 1, p. 9 Perina, K (2004), 'Hacking the Social Code', Psychology Today, 37, 5, p. 3 'Security and Privacy' (2006), Health Management Technology, 27, 9, p. 45 'Security ethics' 2010, Nature, 463, 7278, p. 136 Read More