Which rule appeals to you most of all?

PART I.

HACKERS

General Aspect.

The Hacker Emblem was first proposed in 2003 by Eric S. Raymond

Warm-up activities. 1. Do you know the origin of the word “hacker”? 2. When did you learn about hackers and their activity for the first time? 3. Are hackers a serious threat to computer networks safety? 4. Do you know any hackers? 5. What are the reasons of hacking? 6. Have you ever been attacked by hackers?

Hackers: Innocent Victims of Curiosity or Evil Geniuses?

In the most general sense a “hacker” is someone who enjoys creating and modifying computer software and hardware, including computer programming, administration and security. Most often the term is used to characterize a person able to exploit a system or gain unauthorized access through skill and tactics. In the past decade “hacker” has come to describe the people with a hands-on interest in computer security and circumventing such security. Nowadays IT security is becoming a booming business and vulnerability information is worth its weight in gold.

The first “hackers” appeared at academic settings of the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the University of California (Berkeley) and Carnegie Mellon University in 1960. The early hackers working on minicomputers in academic computer science environment initiated the academic hacker subculture. Modern academic hacker subculture is defined by shared work and play focused round central artifacts, such as for example the Internet itself, the World Wide Web, the Linux operating system, free encyclopedia Wikipedia. Among the representatives of hacker academic subculture are Bill Joy, Eric S. Raymond, Alan Kay, Ken Thompson, Richard M. Stallman, Linus Torvalds and others.

Contrary to the academic subculture there is hobby and network hacker subculture, which doesn’t have close connections to the academic world. It takes its historical roots in the early phone phreaks of the 1970s. The hobby and network subculture is mainly focused around the exploitation of computer security. The main points of their interest in practice are circumvention of access restriction measures and exceptional computer programming. Hobby and network hackers have a tendency to work anonymously and to use aliases for the purpose of concealing identity, rather than revealing their names. Members of the hobby and network hacking community are often described as crackers by the academic hacker subculture.

However paradoxical it may sound, modern society is more aware of malicious hackers than of their law-abiding mates from academic circles. Nowadays the most often discussed issues are “To what extent is malicious hackers’ activity dangerous?” and “Why do they hack?”. It is self-evident, that any hacker attack is first of all an intrusion into privacy, no matter whether it is personal or corporate. Many believe the reason of hackers’ activity is criminal intent, which can be caused both by curiosity and trivial hooliganism. Some say that by highlighting vulnerabilities hackers help increase computer security. Whatever the hackers’ motivation is, as long as computers and the Internet exist, there will always be hackers “malicious” or just “curious”, trying to penetrate into someone’s computer and hunting for hidden information.

I. Find in the text the English equivalents to:

Несанкционированный доступ, практический интерес, компьютерная безопасность, безопасность в сфере информационных технологий, процветающий бизнес, на вес золота, университетская обстановка, искусственный интеллект, совместная работа, взлом телефонных сетей, обход мер по обеспечению ограничения доступа, использовать прозвища с целью скрыть свою личность, научные круги, законопослушный, преступное намерение, обычное хулиганство, обнаруживать и раскрывать (обнародовать) информацию об уязвимости, повышать уровень компьютерной безопасности, мотивация хакеров, скрытая информация.

II. True or false?

1. Hacker is a person who gains unauthorized access to computer networks pursuing criminal goals.

2. Today IT security isn’t threatened by malicious hackers’ attacks.

3. The first hackers working on minicomputers created faster and more efficient programs.

4. The 1970s phone phreaks were forerunners of malicious hackers’ activity.

5. Hobby and network hackers work publicly and help increase information security.

6. As long as computers exist, malicious hackers will attack them.

III. Food for thought.

In the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English by A.S. Hornby the word “ethic” is defined as “systems of moral principles, rules of conduct”. In 1984 the term “hacker ethic” appeared. It was coined by the journalist Steven Levy and used for the first time in his book “Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution”. In Levy’s account of the hacker ethic is in large part based on the values of the “old school” hackers at MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Among these hackers was Richard M. Stallman, whom Levy at the time called the last true hacker. In Levy’s codification, the principles of the Hacker Ethic were:

1. Access to computers – and anything, which might tech you something about the way the world works – should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-on Imperative!

2. All information should be free.

3. Mistrust authority – promote decentralization.

4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.