Need some help with a computer research paper.

[iJon]

Ok my teacher is making us do a research paper now. the only problem was I had to choose from a list of things. After looking and looking I found a topic on hackers. I figured, hey, this will be the closest to computers i get on this project. Basically I want to use you guys as a source. basically the main question what is your opinion on legal actions against hackers. do you guys think penalties for hackers it just right, to easy or too hard. also can you give me some big time hackers that i can search for on my topic. i know you guys would be the people to ask. thanks guy in advance.

iJon

[Doctor Q]

You should certainly cover Kevin Mitnick in your research. One of the best known hackers, he was hunted, caught, jailed, prohibited from using computers until very recently, was befriended by Steve Wozniak, and is hoping to make a living helping companies stop other hackers. You'll find plenty of info about him online, some condeming him and some supporting him. You can start right here in MacRumors (http://forums.macrumors.com/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=82691&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending).

If you want some historical context, look up info about Stanley Rifkin, who was not a hacker in the modern sense but was one of the first well-publicized perpetrators of a computer-security crime.

[jefhatfield]

2600 magazine is a good source of hacker information

if you meet a hacker, a good one will not brag or tell you that they are a hacker

[iJon]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
2600 magazine is a good source of hacker information

if you meet a hacker, a good one will not brag or tell you that they are a hacker
haha exactly. if they brag about it they probably arent even a hacker to begin with. This is a very small paper, I just thought I would get some advice on some knows hackers who were before my time. I think i could just dig up enough info on Kevin to write a report. Plus this is english, i could completly bs this paper and the teacher still wouldnt know what I was talking about.

iJon

[bousozoku]

The term hacker was originally given to anyone who was really clever with coding--a person who could hack together something great. Later, it became mischief and crime.

Having been in charge of big systems, I have a dim view of someone breaking into any system, especially hospital systems, and wreaking havoc. In most cases, there's a window of time where data can't be retrieved or rebuilt. The penalties should be based on the severity of the attack and the kind of data deleted, copied, or otherwise mangled.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by bousozoku
The term hacker was originally given to anyone who was really clever with coding--a person who could hack together something great. Later, it became mischief and crime.

Having been in charge of big systems, I have a dim view of someone breaking into any system, especially hospital systems, and wreaking havoc. In most cases, there's a window of time where data can't be retrieved or rebuilt. The penalties should be based on the severity of the attack and the kind of data deleted, copied, or otherwise mangled.

not to mention stolen as in credit card numbers and other financial information that could be used by someone else to steal from you

i read that the IT/IS field is nearly dead without relief in sight except for appliance programmers using java, java people when and if dot.com comes back, and computer security people in the medical records field

[Steradian]

a little off topic but woz gave Kevin a 1ghz powerbook and office X when his internet parol was over :). my stance on the hacker thing is a bit odd I feel that some of them deserve prison time, ie the hackers who steal credit card numbers. In some respects I feel some hackers are doing a service for companies by showing them thier weeknesses and not exploiting them. I think that makes sense...
Edit: O yeah I really hate how the media portrays hackers and dosen't explain that not all people who hack are horrible people who sit at a computer all day...

[scem0]

Originally posted by Steradian
a little off topic but woz gave Kevin a 1ghz powerbook and office X when his internet parol was over :). my stance on the hacker thing is a bit odd I feel that some of them deserve prison time, ie the hackers who steal credit card numbers. In some respects I feel some hackers are doing a service for companies by showing them thier weeknesses and not exploiting them. I think that makes sense...

I agree, hackers that are doing immoral things should serve time,
but hackers that are just doing it to prove they can deserve 1 GHz
laptops from apple ;):D :p

[Doctor Q]

I was a hacker when the term meant someone who uses computers all the time and seems to know everything about them. Now a hacker is what used to be called a cracker.

It's like Hormel trying to save the word "Spam" - sorry, guys, the word's new meaning has taken over. So I have to settle for being a "computer genius". :) Too bad.