Moral Direction
The problems of computer ethics are like other ethical problems and approaches possible as amongst criminologists are prevention, deterrence, retribution and cure.
Among all the possible approaches, two strongly opposed ones are usually followed first, control of the technology, and second, moral training. As examples of these approaches, compare the registration of automobiles with instruction in karate.
Automobile registration is certainly a good idea in helping the police control professional crime. As thieves have learned to steal cars for their parts, rather than to sell whole, the technology of registration has had to grow more sophisticated: we now see serial numbers on each major component, not just on the door frame. But registration doesn’t help against joy riders but technological security measures like steering column locks can make joyriding harder. Many joy riders are expert locksmiths as locks and keys pose a technical challenge similar to passwords in a computer system. Also, to defeat a steering column lock is to destroy it by brute force.
The example of karate instruction shows a very different approach to the problem of adolescent moral limitations. Instead of using technology it empowers them. Skill in karate is a deadly weapon; to give that weapon to a young person is an affirmation of trust rather than suspicion.
Karate classes works and it does not lead to an epidemic of juvenile murders due to every person responds to his or her situation. If I know you’re trusting me with something important, I’ll try to live up to your trust. If I sense that you consider me untrustworthy, I may decide that I might as well live up to your low expectations.
In karate training includes advancement in control and self-discipline as well as knowledge of particular moves. Instructors emphasize that karate is an art that should not be abused. Students learn to demonstrate punches and kicks without injury by stopping just short of contact with the opponent’s body.
Hacker Ethics Principles
Hacker ethic is a term for the moral values and philosophy that are standard in the hacker community. The early hacker culture and resulting philosophy originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1950s and 1960s. The term hacker ethic is attributed to journalist Steven Levy as described in his 1984 book titled Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. The key points within this ethic are access, freedom of information, and improvement to quality of life.
The general tenets or principles of hacker ethic includes –
- Sharing
- Openness
- Decentralization
- Free access to computers
- World Improvement
Many hackers argue they follow an ethic that guides their behavior and justifies their break-ins. They state that all information should be free, and hence there is no such thing as intellectual property, and no need for security. But it can also be argued that if all information should be free, privacy is no longer possible. Additionally, our society is based on information whose accuracy must be assured, hence free and unrestricted access to such information is out of the question. Also, information is often collected and developed at great expense.
According to hackers, actual break-ins illustrate security problems to a community that will not otherwise notice those very problems but reporting and explaining a vulnerability to the owner of a system would illustrate the problem as well; breaking in cannot be justified. Should burglars be allowed to break into houses in order to demonstrate that door locks are not robust enough?
Hackers also point out they break into systems to watch for instances of data abuse and to help keep ’Big Brother’ at bay. The end justifies the means. But, criminal activity cannot be condoned for the sake of raising awareness. The proper authorities should make sure proper data protection and ethics are enforced.
In conclusion, we can state that most computer break-ins are unethical. On the other hand, any system administrator or security administrator is allowed to hack into his own systems. But why would he? We will attempt to give some motivations for that in the next paragraph.
