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IN THE
COMPUTER VIRUS ARENA
ABSTRACT
The introduction of the computer into our already complex
arsenal of tools has opened a door to a world in which the limits
are seemingly boundless. The possibilities of electronic
information and data exchange alone are enough to boggle the mind.
However, with the computer's acceptance and its growing
implementation, a debate has arisen concerning the manner in which
it is being utilized.
Today, we have a virtual stone wall separating two basic
trains of thought. On one hand, there are those who wish to make
all computer information and resources publicly available, regardless
of impact or damage afforded to unwitting users. On the other hand,
we have computer professionals, advocates and users who think
potentially damaging information should be more effectively managed
and controlled, disallowing damaging code to escape into the public
domain.
THE GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT OF COMPUTER ETHICS
Perhaps the birthplace of computer ethics was the at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The addition of a discarded
Lincoln Labs TX-0 in 1958 created a more personal and casual
brotherhood in the computing environment at MIT. It was soon after
this machine was introduced that many of the more inquiring minds
attending the university became enthralled with it's presence [1].
"There was no one moment when it started to dawn on the TX-0 hackers
that by devoting their technical abilities to computing with a
devotion rarely seen outside of monasteries they were the vanguard
of a daring symbiosis between man and machine", wrote Steven Levy, in
his landmark book, "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution".
This devotion to the computer led to their version of what they dubbed
"The Hacker Ethic". This "ethic" had became an honor code that
outlined ground rules for the usage of the computer resources and has
survived to this day as the foundation of what is honorable in the
computer community. Although it has been twisted and mired in its
journey into the 1990's, its inception was sincere and beneficial to
those who created it during the early days. Levy outlined five
platform values that comprised the Hacker Ethic:
"Access to computers - and anything which might teach you something
about the way the world works -- should be unlimited and total.
Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!"