From:	Skye Comstock <bilbo@****.NWLINK.COM>
Subject:	Re: Hacking
Date:	Sat, 12 Jul 1997 19:30:36 -0800

>The following has a slight vein of SR, and is of a subject matter
>that I'm sure many have opinions and I just wanted to hear your side.
>
>I sat down last night to browes the movie 'Hackers' and it
>got me thinking. (Big surprise!)

"Hackers" and think in the same sentence... Whoa. :) It's about
as hard as this "Paranoid Android" song on the radio...

>For one to 'hack' you need passcodes or an intricate knowledge of the
>programming language of the system. (very rudimentary thinking I know,
>but I'm trying to make a point.)

Right. (I'm not a hacker, I just know some stuff, very little,
so brush me off if you feel the need.)

>To hack into a system, you are essentially writing counter programs
>and altering present information inside the mark system.

Pretty much.

>Do then ends justify the means?

It all depends on the person...

>For all the time needed and required to obtain knowledge of a mark
>system, just to infiltrate it, isn't there an easier way of obtaining
>the goods you are trying to 'borrow'?

It's probably easier than shooting the place up and running off
with the server. :]

>Is 'hacking' a viable means of theft? Or is just easier to steal your
>brothers birth certificate, go down to the DMV with some of his mail,
>and get a drivers license with his name on it (but your picture),
>just to get a visa card that you need?

There are probably easier ways of getting 'money' than that, but
getting a Visa card doesn't exactly get me off. <g>

>And of high tech theft? With the knowledge gain through countless
>hours of self taught computer programming, wouldn't it be easier just
>to go get a job at Fujitsu and steal the info from the inside?

I basically think that most "hackers" get off on breaking the system
that they have no access to. Doing an inside job just wouldn't
take as much skill, and wouldn't be as risky. The harder the
challenge, the bigger the thrill, I would think. I happen to
get off and racing people on the streets and getting away with
it, I'm sure hackers get off just as much by breaking a system,
and getting away with it.

Hackers do it because they love it, not because it's trendy or
cool, you know. Shadowrun hackers must get an extreme rush
after whooping a piece of Black ICE or cracking a big system.

-Skye