Hello all,

Been a few days since I posted..but I've been caught up in mid-term tests (over 80% on all them tho . 105% in my unix class)... Anyways we had an hour long discussion today in my computer ethics class on Ethical Issues on the internet. Anyways it was mostly on hacking, but should have more specifically been on cracking. It was absolutely horrible. She stood there for an hour and told the class that hackers were criminals.

http://infotech.fanshawec.ca/mnmt390...ternet%20I.ppt

That is the link to the powerpoint

She talked more and more about people hacking illegally into systems and how it was the same as cracking. I'm mentioning this here because I realize this debate has come up many times. In my opinion it is crackers and script kiddies that break the law, hackers are those who know the ins and outs of computer systems, like some of the more respectable members here. I realize the use of the word comes from the media usage and bias, however I feel that it is not the pattern of thought that should be taught in an IT course. It's almost degrading, at least that's how I felt. I was rather vocal in the class, and had the support and the majority, however some students felt that the movie Hackers was the definitive source on how computers were really used (and this is a 3rd semester advanced college program in the IT Dept.) Anyways... I just wanted to throw this out there, as the movie Hackers was mentioned many times in class and refered to and no one seemed to know the origin of the word Hacker other than me (including the prof, she just knew it originally meant people who knew the ins and outs of computers. I think that people training to be IT professionals should be informed of the proper definitions of the word. It's the first step in educating the general population.

Although this ethics professor is causing problems galore. She said today "They say I should keep my system secure and up to date, but why? If these people just stopped hacking my computer I wouldn't have to worry about it being secure and up to date. So why should I bother updating it, I have the right not to" and yes she's a prof in the IT division.

Anyways just needed to bitch and this seemed like a good place. Thoughts? Opinions? Comments?