We are living in an age where the digital resistance is at its prime. From phone phreaking to WikiLeaks to Edward Snowden, Hackers have opened our eyes to privacy breaches and an information flow that are slowly becoming more and more free.
Although the stigma towards hackers isn’t too great, people still respect the fact that they are exposing fundamental flaws in our society. The more information the hackers unveil, the more people respect them.
Furthermore, we have come to the point where hacking is considered an art. Like any painter, musician or actor, their art is derived from passion. Artists have a message they communicate that through their works and hackers are much the same. They find holes in the system in order to build a better one.
Whether a white hat (good) hacker or a black hat (bad) hacker, both serve a purpose and both are inextricably connected to the distribution and free flow of information.
Nick Moses 
I think that Edward Snowden is an awesome example of what you’re trying to say in this post, particularly this line “Although the stigma towards hackers isn’t too great, people still respect the fact that they are exposing fundamental flaws in our society.” The private information that he released was in favour of American citizens, and not to harm innocent people. It’s great how hackers have actually become relevant in our society rather than causing general privacy issues (even tho those people still exist). Do you think its possible to cross the line for “hacktivism”?
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I like how you identified at the end of your post that both the good and bad hackers in our society have their own places in which they belong. In this weeks lecture, Ted alluded to the idea that the hacking community was like a sanctuary for some, a place which they could flaunt their passions (as you said) and do something which they truly enjoyed in the underground. Me, myself, have never considered ‘hacking’ to be a positive iteration of curiosity in our society. However, this weeks topic and your blog post has allowed me to understand more so how to perceive the world of hacking. Reading up on the hacking subculture lead me to this article (http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sponsored/business/technology/sdut-eset-good-bad-hacking-2014aug24-story.html) which I think is extremely helpful in identifying if hacking is a good or a bad thing. Also, the fact that we do live in a world where all our information can be seen with a few clicks on a computer keyboard (slight hyperbole but oh well) is quite scary, I hope they don’t find my internet history…
I’ll finish off with saying that your memes are great and John Oliver is always a good thing, can go wrong with a bit of banter.
~ krisesandchrosses ~
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I think with hackers, there still exists an air of mystery since the way they are represented in media is either as a super slick spy or as the stereotypical never-seen-light-before computer nerd. I feel that most people either fear or respect hackers depending on what has been happening in the news recently. For example, people are afraid when they hear about the latest online scam and when a hacker releases personal information from a well-known company. However, when they show corruption in political parties (like when Hillary Clinton’s emails were released – well, some of them), people usually appreciate this release of information since choosing an election candidate is an important choice and knowing whether they’re corrupt can change their opinion on a person completely.
Here’s an article that details some of the misconceptions a lot of people have about hackers: http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-awareness/hacker-myths-debunked/
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It’s an interesting thought that many people disagree with what hackers do, but as you mention people like that this information is being publically released. We are always told that we need to be honest, and isn’t that what hacktivists are doing, showing the world the truth? Still it is a topic that many have an opinion about and believe that hackers are either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. I found this link to be interesting as you mention the white and black hat hackers, and this continues on from that with several more descriptions of the types of hackers, and whether they are ‘good’ or ‘bad’. http://www.hexacta.com/2016/01/29/hackers/
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Hey,
I really like that you pointed out that whether a hacker is good or bad they both have the purpose of providing to a free flow of information that is distributed.
I don’t know if you know about the DDoS attacks but they are massive lately. You can read more about it here: http://www.darknet.org.uk
Pretty much people are complaining and asking why manufactures of devices are giving weak default passwords for devices capable of generating attacks. (Hacking)
Its interesting to see that the spread of the DDoS attacks is taking down large portions of the internet, this is an example of hackers effecting the distribution of internet in a really negative way.
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People are more scared of what they can do rather than of what they actually do. It’s not until Edward Snowden that the public started to see hacktivists and hacktivism with a different attitude. Because the public has been obsessed with the stigma that hacker culture has created, hacktivism – hacking to serve good purpose, has been seen as the same.
And by the way, I like how you compare hacktivsm with the art. It’s so interesting and it’s unbelievably relevant.
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It is quite ironic how the more information that hackers unveil, the more people respect them. I believe you have given a really clear argument in your post. You have great use of memes, which break up the text and make it even more understandable. This video http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,2475814736001_2145538,00.html gives greater insight into Snowman, Manning and the new generation of hacktivists.
Great post.
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Your video tied in really well with your post (despite it being a really awkward interview). As you mentioned there is a really interesting perspective of hackers as they are viewed positively and negatively at the same time. As the new generation wish to have free flowing information I think that this view is predominantly positive.
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Such an easy to read blog post! The article you included “The Art of Hacking: Why Absolutely Anyone Can Be a Hacker” was a very interesting read. Puts a new spin for me on hackers for me.
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The moral standing of hacktivist groups can become extremely grey. Many see the release of the Ashley Madison hack by The Impact Team as a morally negative thing to do. So, it seems that some of these hacktivist groups may use their power in questionable ways that are in no way morally justified.
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Great post and memes! I really enjoyed how you touched on both positive and negative attributes throughout this post. It really helped me to gain a deeper understanding on this topic and the idea of why hacking occurs. Personally I see hacktivism challenging international affairs, not only because it transcends borders, but also because it has become an instrument of national power.The ideas shown throughout the video made a great addition to this post and really highlighted your how hacktivism serves a purpose and both are inextricably connected to the distribution and free flow of information.
Can’t wait to read more!
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Creative memes, and in numbers! More the merrier 😉
Enjoyed the blog, was short, factual and straight to the point. The sources you used were also very useful in supporting your points. It would have been nice to hear your opinion on this topic. Was Snowdens actions crossing a moral boundary that you really oppose?
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Love the memes and anything with John Oliver gets my vote. Surely though, the purpose of a black hat is to serve themselves. The reason there the bad guys is because there stealing peoples personal information for personal gain. I’m not sure how important they are to information distribution as they usually keep it for themselves. But I could be completely wrong.
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I like your point, i think you put a good example of edward snowden in your post somehow it link perfectly good. specially the line “Although the stigma towards hackers isn’t too great, people still respect the fact that they are exposing fundamental flaws in our society.” i would say as long as they dont harm any innocent people why would we mind them, i think it is great that theres a hactivist out there that will expose everything that we wont know yet.
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“Furthermore,we have come to the point where hacking is considered an art”, I agree with it. Edward Snowden is a good example to talk about “Although the stigma towards hackers isn’t too great, people still respect the fact that they are exposing fundamental flaws in our society.” They are good as long as they don’t harm any innocent people.
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