----------------------------------------------------- APRIL 14, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: TechTV: The Screen Savers http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/opinion/story/0,24330,3424896,00.html http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/opinion/jump/0,24331,3424898,00.html Thoughts on ethical hacking in the wired world. By Anna Marie Moore aka Starla Pureheart Women Hackers The art of hacking is a universal thing, and pertains to every endeavor. In the world today, hacking is often looked upon negatively. But hacking is, first and foremost, a mindset. A hacker is someone who has a great passion for a subject and will go to almost any lengths in the pursuit of knowledge pertaining to that subject. In my own life, this mindset carries over into many areas. Passions of Starla Pureheart One of my most important hobbies is the martial art of tae kwon do. I've been training for five years, and recently attained the rank of first dan black belt. There were times when I wanted to give up and quit, but I just couldn't do it. I had to keep learning and growing -- not with the goal of "getting there" or "being done" -- but to always be a "true beginner" with the understanding that no matter how much training and expertise I gained, there would always be something that I didn't know. That's what makes it so fulfilling. The path never ends. The concept of learning as a lifetime experience also applies to my other major hobby of studying guitar. I love music in all of its forms, and I feel that the guitar is a very personal instrument. You can just sit and play for hours on end without worrying about whether or not you sound professional. My rock idol is Steve Howe. He's the guitarist of my favorite band, the progressive rock group Yes. Their members are hackers of extraordinary musical skill, of lyric, of turn of phrase, of structure, of weaving order from the infinite possibilities of tone. To say that they are my musical heroes would be putting it mildly. Hacking in the wired world I'm very interested in the technical scene, and some of the new things coming out far surpass anything I ever imagined as a child. Wireless networking amazes me. It's almost like the Wired in "Serial Experiment Lain." Nearly everywhere I go, there's an access point to play with. It's a little creepy to think that soon everyone will be connected to everyone else all of the time, but it's simultaneously very tantalizing. No more limits, no more cords, no more shackles holding you to a desk. Just you, the freedom, and the Wired. I sometimes worry about the future of hacking in this new medium. Due to recent legislation, it is becoming harder and harder to find the original hacker spirit of exploration and knowledge. So many young hackers these days are reactionaries, using their skills for nothing more than public graffiti, often of an impermanent and meaningless nature. The original hacker ethic Steven Levy, in writing about the first hackers, titled his book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution." At that time, hacking was clearly considered an admirable pursuit. Levy also had the honor of recording in writing the original "Hacker Ethic." It was very simple, pure, and concise. * Access to computers should be unlimited and total. * Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative. * All information should be free. * Mistrust authority -- promote decentralization. * Hackers should be judged by their hacking. * You can create art and beauty on a computer. * Computers can change your life for the better. Those seven elegant and simple statements are still the core of today's hacker ethic. Those who practice the art of hacking for meaningless reasons should be more accurately termed "anarchists," but it's too late to change the way the word is used in public. Only the hackers themselves recognize the distinction. Robotics as the "wave of the future" The original hacking ethic is one of the reasons I'd like to study at MIT when I go to college. The first hackers began their explorations there, and I hope to recapture some of that creative spirit in my own work. I'm very interested in the field of robotics, and I think it has real potential to be the so-called "wave of the future." The thing that intrigues me about robotics is that it is a field limited only by the laws of physics and the creator's imagination. Within those gossamer restrictions, you can do just about anything. That freedom to create is very alluring. Hacking is art, and art is hacking. I am concerned about the unlimited potential of robotics. Everything is so automated that I fear we as humans may lose our ability to adapt and overcome. If things become automated to an extreme, then we have no reason to learn how to innovate. The consequence is humanity in stagnation. While I do love robotics, I firmly believe that there must be wisdom in design to prevent us from enthusiastically rushing over that cliff. No matter how amazing technology becomes, we must not allow ourselves to be controlled by it. The hacker ethic revised Times have changed a great deal since the innocent hacking days of MIT's originals. In that understanding, I've condensed my beliefs as a hacker into the following set of statements. I hope that they may prove applicable to this new age, and to the new generation of developing hackers. * Hacking is an art of poetry and beauty. Cracking is a criminal act. * Know the history of the field and what you represent as part of it. * Do not dishonor that history. * Understand in application the original hacker ethic. * To live without regrets means doing nothing of which you might later be ashamed. * Don't be afraid to have morals and principles in which you believe. * Allow those morals to guide your decision-making. If others deride you for your stand, ignore them. * Don't be stupid. I cannot stress this enough. * Do not follow those who've lost their vision. * Everything in life has either a benefit or a consequence. Both are always possible, based on decisions you may make within a split second of time. Choose wisely. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com