Hackers Ethics and Technology BTT10

Anchie, Sarah, Ethan, Kevin, Matthew

Plot summary[1]

Dade "Zero Cool" Murphy is an elite hacker who, at the age of 11 is arrested and
charged with crashing 1,507 systems in one day and causing a single-day 7-point drop
in the New York Stock Exchange.
As an 18 year-old, Dade moves to New York and befriends a group of hackers and
gamers.
The trouble erupts when Joey, the younger, novice hacker of the group, successfully
breaks into an oil companys Gibson supercomputer to prove to the rest of the group that
he is an elite hacker. In order to validate this feat, he downloads part of a garbage file.
Unfortunately, the company's IT staff detects this unauthorized entry into its systems and
summons computer security officer Eugene "The Plague" Belford to deal with the
problem.
The Plague realizes that the file being downloaded can prove that he is stealing money
from the company (the file is a worm that steals pennies from millions of transactions).
The Plague enlists the US Secret Service to recover the file by claiming that it is the
code to a computer virus that will capsize the company's oil tanker fleet.
Key Terms

Hacker a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data.

Virus a piece of code that is capable of copying itself and typically corrupts the system and
destroys data.

Encryption convert information into a code to prevent unauthorized access.

Ethics moral principles that govern a persons behaviour.

Ethical Issues

1. Liken the concept of hacking into a computer system to reading someones diary.
These situations are similar because in both cases youre entering someone elses, private
information, or in this case files, without their permission to do so.
 1. Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate, private and public information systems -
infecting them with viruses and stealing materials for their own ends. These people
theyre terrorists. Secret Service Agent, Richard Gill
We dont agree with this statement because it depends on your perspective. For example in the
movie, the hackers are trying to beat Eugene and his company by doing things that might not
have been legal but it was for the greater good.
1. Hacking is more than just a crime. Its a survival trick. Razor and Blade, Elite Hackers
(as justification for pay phone scam)
We disagree with this statement because we do think that hacking is almost always a crime,
but in some situations when used for good purposes, can be beneficial to the greater good.

1. Overall, do you believe that if, with the skill and persistence, you can hack into a system,
is it okay to do so? Explain why or why not.
If your job (for example working for the government or a private contractor) legally entitles you to
hack other companies and individuals, then it is ok. But if you are illegally hacking computer
systems, and companies, than it is not.

1. Is it okay to read someone elses diary? Is it okay to hack into someone elses computer
system?
We think that it is not ok to read someone elses diary, because for the same reason you should
not hack into files; they are not yours and they are private.

1. In the end, the Hackers used their abilities for good. Does this mean that hacking is
okay?
We think it depends on the type of people who are hacking and the situation in which they are
hacking.

[1] Summarized and adapted from Wikipedia.