Hacker Hacking, Web Usage and the Internet

Hacker

Hacking, Web Usage and the Internet Hierarchy

Computer hacking is perceived as a crime and is frequently motivated by economic interests such as the stealing of personal and credit information, or by ideological interests such as the disruption of a company's service or the acquisition of classified information from government or corporate sites.

However, hacking is also quite frequently used as an instrument for the expression of political, philosophical and practical frustrations. As a result, hacking has become the province of a number of highly intelligent, skilled and sophisticated groups designed to invoke public scrutiny of our society, our leaders and the direction of our world as a whole. Even in their criminality, such hackers appear to carry forward meaningful ideas.

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Among such groups, few have been more salient or effective in this than the 'Anonymous' organization. So tells the presentation by Misha Glenny during a recent TED Convention speech. Glenny describes Anonymous as "a sophisticated group of politically motivated hackers who have emerged in 2011. And they're pretty scary. You never know when they're going to attack next, who or what the consequences will be."

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As an example, Glenny reports that the group hacked the Fox News Twitter account to announce that President Obama had been assassinated. It proved a tremendous embarrassment for a network that has been a constant and rabid critic of the president. It also demonstrated the power of the hacking underworld.

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Glenny reports that among the prominent entities that have, for all their resources, been unable to deflect such attacks, are Sony Playstation, the government of Turkey, Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency, the CIA and three separate agencies providing cybersecurity services to the FBI.

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Glenny quotes an acquaintance in the industry, telling that there are only two types of companies in the world; those that know that they've been hacked and those that don't.

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