Should all hacking be banned(Persuasive Paper) Research Paper

Should all hacking be banned(Persuasive ) - Research Paper Example Advancement in technology has made available new communication tools, which enable communication over long distance. The internet is regarded as a source of entertainment, information and communication with activities, which include e-mail, web surfing, shopping and reading news. Internet connections allow easy transfer of a variety of media from one location to another, thus enhancing sharing and building relations among people. It is the increased dependency on computers and internet that fuels cybercrime, which poses an enormous risk to infrastructure that, is dependent on such utilities. The United States ranks first in a list of ten countries known for hacking tendencies as indicated by the table below. Adopted from http://i.huffpost.com/gen/609514/thumbs/o-GLOBAL-HACKING-TOP-TEN-570.jpg?4 Presently, most internet crimes have led to loss of personal information, which is stolen leaving a trail of suffering people. Such heavy damages are usually attributed to hackers or hacker gr oups who derive their gains from gathered information within a short period. Adopted from http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/0426-password-chart/7780968-1-eng-US/0426-password-chart_full_600.jpg?nav=268203-csm_article-leftColRelated It is for such reasons that software companies regularly update their products, which serves to keep the level of vulnerability at all-time low. Moreover, owing to the risks involved, the public is of the opinion that hacking should be banned forgetting the benefits derived from ethical or controlled hacking. Therefore, most people think that hacking is unconditional malicious and are of the opinion that all hacking should be banned. The benefits derived from controlled hacking are critical to national security as well as in maintaining a high standard in electronic products. It is for this reasons that some level of hacking should be permitted while maintaining surveillance on hackers or hacker groups that are deemed ma licious. This paper seeks to highlight positive aspects associated with hacking and how they serve the society. Common beliefs about hacking illustrate hacking as simple operations that involve a sequence of commands, which on the contrary, is a skill. The United States legal definition describes computer hacking as the deliberate access of computer systems without authority or exceeding authorised access. Hacking is the practice of manipulating computer systems and software to perform contrary to what they were initially created for. As such, a hacker presents as a skilful computer programmer or user who uses his ability to gain unauthorised access to data and information. On the other hand, cracking relates to the modifying software with the aim of removing features they deem as limitations to the software’s potential. The targeted features of the software usually include copy protection, date checks, serial numbers and product keys (Negi, 2011).In essence, crackers seek to disable or remove safety measures that often compel computer users to buy original software and products. Crackers often prey on all computer packages ranging from operating systems to games. The crackers then distribute the modified products as pirated versions without charge, which proves to be a headache for software companies due to losses incurred. It is for this reason that software cracking is illegal owing to its malicious nature of their activities. The terms hacker and cracker are often used interchangeably,