“Technology
empowers individuals, it empowers voices, it empowers democracy in a way that
can turn one man into a movement or a woman into a world power,” Snowden, a
conference speaker from Russia once stated.
Technology is
a powerful force.
This past
summer, Dozens of hackers, journalists, and activists came together for the
tenth biennial Hackers on Planet Earth
(H.O.P.E) conference, sponsored by the hacker magazine 2600.
This magazine
is essential in building community within the hacker environment. 2600 provides key forums for hackers to come
together and share insight regarding current issues. Some of these include surveillance, Internet
freedom, and even the security of the nation’s nuclear weapons. Nothing is off limits.
Named after
the frequency that allowed hackers to gain control of land-line phones in early
years, this magazine is on its 13th year.
In today’s
world, hackers are typically looked down upon by society. They are the ones who
break into these so-called secure systems and steal confidential
information. But, maybe there is
something to be said about these hackers. They are the ones discovering
loopholes in our security systems, and they are the ones who are consistently
revealing the inconvenient truths. To clarify, I am not condoning illegal
security cracking, but many times these cracks give us the push we need to
enhance and evolve in the cyber world.
Now, my first
impression of this magazine was not a good one, as I am sure many of you feel
the same way. I could not understand why there needed to be a “how to” guide on
hacking into someone’s secured systems.
In fact, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey called the publication “a
manual for computer crime.” How could anyone support this type of publication?
It wasn’t
until I did some more research and found out that the magazine is less of a
how-to guide, but more of a place for hackers to come together and stories be
shared. Golsdstein, the founder of 2600, said that he wanted to create a place
where these stories could be heard. 2600 strives on being known as a collection
of intriguing stories, not on teaching the public how to hack into the cyber
world.
The actual
term, hacker, is a complex world itself.
It has only developed the stereotypical definition of a cyber criminal
in more recent years. In fact, a hacker can have quite the different meaning. According
to the New
Yorker, the actual definition of a hacker is someone who is passionately
obsessed with a hobby. An Olympic medalist is a hacker, a mountain climber is a
hacker, even a good journalist earns the definition of a hacker.
So, who are we
to judge these types of magazines, especially without performing the necessary
research?
Committing
cyber crimes is corrupt, and should never be done. However, is having a place
to share information and empower one another with knowledge bad?
There are many
questionable topics out there, but it is up to us as individuals to choose what
information to take in and what information to disregard. As Snowden’s quote
states “technology empowers individuals,”
but it is up to the individual to choose the path in which they want to be
empowered.
No comments:
Post a Comment