Kevin Mitnick :: Hacker Hackers Hacking Computers Essays

Kevin Mitnick Hacking has been around since the birth of computers. When the term hacking was first used, its meaning was not that of how we think of it today. At the origins of computing, a hacker was considered to be just a "creative programmer (Baase, 2003)." Early forms of computer games as well as the beginnings of operating systems were discovered and created by these original hackers. These hackers plunged into systems as a way of an intellectual challenge and to aspire to gain knowledge (Baase, 2003). Kevin Mitnick believes he falls into this realm of hackers. Hackers in today's era are now looked upon as criminals who invade the privacy rights of individuals and have the ability to deliver worms/viruses. The differences are that hackers today have full intentions of delivering terrible viruses and worms. Mitnick was one of the most infamous hackers during the 1980's. He molded his hacking style around the stupidity of humans and his quest for intellectual knowledge. The ways in which he w iggled his way into computer systems extenuates many of the issues surrounding computer security and privacy. Kevin Mitnick, "the worlds most notorious hacker" hacked into his first computer at the age of 16 when he hacked into Digital Equipment Corp. ( DEC) by phoning the company and claiming to be the lead developer of a new product (Weintraub, 2003). DEC then proceed to give him the passwords needed to hack into their system. Many of the jobs that Mitnick pulled exploited the ignorance of humans rather than the security software of the companies. Based on what he accomplished, he showed that a path can be made into a system without a computer or modem. This "social engineering", was Mitnick's forte. Mitnick tries to warn corporations now that "There is no patch for stupidity." (Mitnick, 2003) We are getting to an era in life were humans are not smart enough to run the machines they created. Someday computers may be run and created by other computers completely making humans obsolete in the realm of computer operation. This is a very scary thing to think about. When computers start having the ability to run themselves without human interference who knows what will happen. This is a fear that is embedded into the minds of many luddites. Where will this new technology end up? How far will it go before it destroys the integrity of life as it is now?