The Evolution of Hacking

With the evolution of bright, connective, and intelligent technology, came the invasive attack and misuse of it. Here I am referring specifically to hacking, and how it has evolved from a cutesy hobby to a unethical crime.

“A “hack” has always been a kind of shortcut or modification—a way to bypass or rework the standard operation of an object or system,” (Clarke, Clawson, and Cordell). Unlike most definitions of hacking, this one leaves out the bias undertone, and though not encompassing the entirety of word, it gives us an untainted starters definition.

Hacking could not have developed into what it is today if it weren’t for the telephone. Phone phreaking was essentially the hacking of a telephone to make long distance calls for free. Many people used this system to listen in to phone calls too. From the point of view of these hackers they were solely looking to enhance a technology that was already given to them. And as the 60’s came around, and the household computer became readily available to the average consumer, hacking shifted from telephones to computers. Accompanying these hackers came multiple depictions including films like Tron (1982), WarGames (1983), and Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1984). And as Hollywood does so well, these films caused a massive upset and paranoia. In the 80’s this hobby of hacking shifted largely into a purposed based exploitation. At this point any positive connotation left in the term ‘hacking’ had deflated, and in the late 80’s the first hacking legislation was passed; the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which put restrictions and consequences to any sort of hacking whether it be in detriment to the US or any one person.

In ‘We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacking World of Lulzsec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency” written by Parmy Olson we are revealed to the private chat rooms of computer hackers in the 2011. I assumed the conversations between hackers would entail detailed directions and encoding vernacular, but were in fact infiltrated with words like, ‘lulz’ and ‘faggot’ (14). The point of view of this article is clearly not coming from the side of the hacker, nonetheless, the communication between the hackers humanized them to me. With the intricacies of hacking it is interesting to see the group chat sounding like elementary students. It reminded me of my childhood when I would steal neopoints from strangers on Neopets by ensuring their trust. Do I regret it? No.

It can empirically be said that technology and hacking go hand in hand. Remember, at one point hackers were people who just wanted to crack into the forbidden knowledge. For example Steven Wozniak, the inventor of the Apple One computer was part of the genesis of the computer hacking era. He believes hacking to be about invention, and that “...we [Homebrew Computer Club] were making a difference for humanity.” Over time hacking has become more and more corrupt. Once the hacker saw her power, she began to abuse it, and as of today it is hard to say that there is an ethical legitimacy behind these acts.

Work Cited

Creative Film. “The Matrix Number Falling Code HD Background.” Online video clip. Youtube. YouTube, 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 March 2016

Olson, Parmy. “We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, ad the Global Cyber Insurgency.” Hachette Book Group, Inc. Print.

Ruley Clarke, James Clawson, Maria Cordell. “A Brief History of Hacking.” steel.lcc.gatech.edu. Historical Approaches to Digital Media. 1 March, 2016.