“Never send a boy to do a woman’s job.” A line from the classic movie “Hackers,” from the lips of
Angelina Jolie, a.k.a. Kate Libby, a.k.a. Acid Burn.
This movie glorified the life and excitement of a hacker;
cracking the code, getting the money, and taking down big business. Even though
this movie is a bit dated in the current scheme of things the motives are still
there.
In the modern world, there is a mix of hackers; some hackers
do it for fun, some for glory, organized crime, to change
grades, or just to prove a point. In a twisted way, it is the old adage of
good vs. evil; however, depending on which side of the hacker attack you are on,
your point of view of good or evil can change.
For groups like Anonymous they live by their own “code:”
“Knowledge is free.
We are anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us!”
When you read this mantra, it can sound much like the
thoughts of any organized crime group. Let’s compare them to another group that
believes that there should not be certain restrictions on items, the Mafia. The
Mafia has been around for many, many years and can sometimes be invisibly involved
in the background of your daily routine. Some of them believe that money should
be made freely, without paying taxes or reporting anything to the government.
In the movies and in real life, people identify with them and many look up to
them as vigilante heroes. The John Gotti’s, Whitey Bulger’s, and Al Capone’s of
the world are glorified criminals that inspired many books, movies, and TV
shows like The
Sopranos.
In the past the crimes that the Mafia committed were more in
the physical form; however, organized crime now plays a huge part in the
hacking business as well. But enough on the Mafia, the government now looks to
combat hackers like they do the Mafia.
In a recent US
News & Report article, they outline that many foreign countries
actually sponsor the hackers to advance their countries economy, cracking into
large, successful companies to steal trade secrets to build cheap knockoffs to
sell on the black market. Within the past year, the FBI actually hired some
hackers of their own to help track down, investigate, and capture cyber
criminals much like the FBI did in the past by hiring members of organized
crime to assist them.
But can the evil actually do something good?
In the battle of good vs. evil, Anonymous declared
a cyber-war against the terrorist group ISIS. Their plan of attack is to go
after the countries that harbor these terrorists:
“We plan on sending a straightforward message to Turkey,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and all other countries that evidently supply ISIS for
their own gain,” the source said. “In the next few days we will begin defacing
the government websites of these countries so that they understand this message
clearly.”
This raises the question; does this make Anonymous more of a
Robin Hood type of figure or is this a statement to the world’s Governments
that they are a stronger unit than a country’s military?
So let’s look at the statement again. “Hackers get to have
all of the fun!” If you are a hacker you can be looked at as a potential to save
the world from a terrorist group, get a sweet job with the FBI and assumingly
take on a whole new identity, and you can get lucky with someone that looks
like Angelina Jolie. So yeah, it does seem like they get to have all of the
fun.
Unless of course you are one of those hackers who gets
caught and sent to prison.
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