The Making of a Hacker..

Hacking has been one of the most talked about stories in the current world of Information Technology. The story of Sony where hackers took over most of their products including their play station network to Fox news where hackers hacked the company's news network and declared that the US president was assassinated on the Independence Day of United States. These storied intrigued me and amazed me at the same time and I was curious to find out what tempts people to be hackers and carry out hacking missions such as these. This blog post explains a gist of my findings.
 



Hackers are normal people just like you and me. They are people who are highly interested in computerized systems and applications and are always keen to experiment and find out things. So what makes them turn from great programmers / computer experts to hackers?

According to Dinuka A.;  a senior programmer in a reputed IT firm , people tend to become hackers when they are not treated well by the company they are working for. " If the company I am working for  is not treating me well and doesn't support me on the work I am doing. I might get  de-motivated and try something new or think of a different way of approaching things.  Some may even go to the extent of sabotaging the system just to get revenge. "

Malik F, who is another programmer , points out that a person can become a hacker to show off his skills , to experiment or to get revenge. " Its all a mental thing you know ; people don't  want to be hackers from the outset ; but certain things such as the news about hacking spreading around , people want to experiment and see if they can do some hacking too. " says Malik.
 
I was able to get hold of  this article where  Sarah Gordon ,  an expert on the psychology of virus writers and hackers explains that there are two types of hackers. She explains that there are Virus Writers and Hackers. Virus writers are not that technically competent and just want to create something which looks good but does bad . Hackers though have greater knowledge technically as well as the system they are planning to hack and does greater damage. 

So what can be done to prevent people from being hackers?  The teaching should be done from the early days and specially school children should be monitored by parents whenever they are using their computers and should be taught the ethics of computing. Another approach is to make hackers your friends;  " The problem with Sony was that they didn't think of making the people who hacked them friends and continued to disregard them hence, they continued to get hacked. So be friends with your Hackers and prosper together " says Dinuka A.  Another approach is to get hackers to do ethical hacking which is a globally accepted job role and also has its own certification process.

Hacking has become a  habit now and with the advert of social media it will be increasingly difficult for organizations to keep their systems and applications from hackers. Hackers are not born , Hackers are made so its the responsibility of  each individual and organization to prevent that from happening. Monitor your systems and applications consistently and also monitor the activities of your employees and see if they are happy. Hacking is a mental thing so by giving the proper training and education  regarding it ; there is a big chance to prevent more people from getting into it . Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining ,  if  individuals and organizations also understands that and use hackers as a source of strength , then inevitably both those individuals as well as organizations will thrive in success and more importantly all their systems and applications will be safe.


What Are Your Thoughts on Hacking ? Do you see ways of using it as a strength to build an Organizations success?  Do share your thoughts through the comments section. Would love to hear your thoughts and views.

Cheers !!

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