Oppan Hacker Style

What attracts bright, talented computer experts to hacking? There isn't much difference between a computer hacker and a computer security expert. Both understand how to navigate and work operating systems, software, and computer hardware. The difference is purely ethical. And computer experts have an ethical responsibility to use their skills for good, just as a doctor or a lawyer has ethical responsibilities in his respective field. It is sad that some computer experts turn to hacking. And I wonder why they do. The story of The Cuckoo's Egg shows what happens when computer skills are put to wrong use. Lives can be destroyed. In the story, hacking is a means of feeding a cocaine addiction and ends in suicide. I wonder how many other drug addictions are being fed, or how many equally terrible ends are being met from hacking. I do not think that money is the real issue. Hackers are bright, talented people. A hacker gains a rush of confidence or self-satisfaction for showing that he can break into a secure system, or shut down hundreds of computers for a few days. It is the challenge that really turns computer experts to hacking. It is like a really big, hard puzzle that not many can solve. I think of Sherlock Holmes and his addiction to solving mysteries. It is the challenge that motivates Holmes to greatness. A hacker is motivated by pushing the limits of what has already been accomplished, and striving to prove that he can accomplish what others before him have not been able to.