Doubting if you are a hacker? Remember phone booth era

By RICHARD GITONGA

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Over the past couple of months a new “ism” has been introduced to our vocabulary. Julius Assange of Wikileaks has brought the world’s attention to a form of Internet activism called hactivism. Hactivism is the process of hacking for a particular cause aimed at the greater good of society. Wikileaks has exposed confidential documents that have embarrassed many governments.

</p>There have been efforts by guilty actors to gag Wikileaks, but most have been unsuccessful. Even the initiative to pass legislation to block internet service providers and hosting facilities to restrict Wikileaks from using their networks failed. Hacking has been regarded as a profession that lingers on the fringes of criminality and fraud. There are different types of hackers, some of whom have a positive contribution to business and the society, and others who have a negative contribution to business. One category of hackers is the one referred to as “White Hats”. White hats are ethical hackers who work to protect a company’s information system. They have a good knowledge of information system security and the various tools used by malicious hackers. The Kenya Police should consider hiring white hats bearing in mind the recent attack on their website by cheeky local hackers.“Black Hats” on the other hand are malicious hackers who penetrate information systems with the intention of causing harm, either by corrupting data, stealing confidential information or simply infecting systems with viruses. Most western Governments public relations machinery have described Julian Assange as a black hat hacker. However, there are many who disagree with this description and feel that he is the quintessential white hat hacker whose actions are for the greater good of society. It may be interesting to note that it was Wikileaks that courageously brought to the world’s attention the massive looting of state corporations and government coffers by the leaders of the Kenyan Government a decade ago. “Grey Hats” are like some Kenyan politicians who have been described as “watermelons”.

<P>Grey hats alternate between being white hats and black hats. They are at times given contracts by institutions to conduct ethical hacking procedures to test the robustness of information security systems. However, in their spare time, they amuse themselves by hacking into vulnerable information systems. Most grey hats are very brilliant at computer technology, but tend to have eccentric tendencies.Just in case you thought that you have never been a hacker, consider the time that we had pay phones or what were once referred to as telephone booths. Many of us discovered the art of tapping the phone to mimic tone sounds in order to avoid paying for calls. If you engaged in this illegal activity, then you can describe yourself as once having been a “Phreaker”.

</p>Phreakers are hackers who penetrate communication systems or devices with the intention of illegally obtaining goods, for example, call card numbers or free telephone calls.Many young Kenyans who use the Internet have become accustomed to downloading tools that enable them to hack into peoples’ computers. These Kenyans can be described as “Script Kiddies”. Script kiddies are hackers who Then there are the “Software Crackers”. These hackers specialises in reverse engineering softwares. They are capable of introducing malicious code into software programmes which is then downloaded and installed by end users. Then there are the “Software Crackers”. These hackers specialises in reverse engineering software’s. They are capable of introducing malicious code into software programmes which is then downloaded and installed by end users.