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Hacking/Phreaking Reform
by AyAn4m1
NOTICE: TO ALL CONCERNED Certain text files and messages contained on this site deal with activities and devices which would be in violation of various Federal, State, and local laws if actually carried out or constructed. The webmasters of this site do not advocate the breaking of any law. Our text files and message bases are for informational purposes only. We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site. We do not guarantee that any of the information contained on this system is correct, workable, or factual. We are not responsible for, nor do we assume any liability for, damages resulting from the use of any information on this site.
In looking at recent crackdowns on hacking, virii, warez, phreaking, and illegal activities in general, I realized that we are bringing this upon ourselves. With free tools like "EZ VBS Virus Scripter" (sadly enough, it exists) any 13-year old with a Dell can write a virus capable of taking down several small corporate networks.
The original aim of hackers was to exploit security in an effort to better understand it, and share this knowledge with fellow hackers. Nowadays, those views seem to have died. Most "hackers" aim to destroy data and wreck systems, for no better reason than getting in the paper.
Also, current hackers publish whitepapers that anyone with a 56k connection can look at, and replicate. When a few hundred people were using IRC to share music, it wasn't that big a deal. Even if the music industry knew about it, they didn't care. Then, a few of those people told all their friends about it, in terms a 4th grader could understand, and suddenly there were a whole lot more people on IRC. Then it spread to new networks, like Napster and Grokster.
Now, millions of users share millions of files in self-contained networks. The music industry cares now, because 100+ million people have downloaded music illegally. Would most people have discovered IRC on their own? No. But the people who did figure it out told everyone. Before, true hackers were always secretive, keeping information to themselves. Now, they seem to blurt it out, because they know that they can get press if they do it. Half of my friends call themselves hackers because they can use Registry Editor to "steal" AIM passwords. So, the cycle will continue, and eventually, the feds will win. There is no avoiding that fact.
There is only one thing we can do. Go back underground. Share exploits with your closest friends, ones you know won't give it out to anyone that asks. Anyone who can find an exploit realizes that spreading it around will only cause problems. What's the fun in knowing an admin password is everyone else does? What's the fun in finding that password if you can just look it up?
Hacking was about fun. It was about knowledge. It was hard. Now, it's all easy to use and damaging to the Internet as a whole.
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