A Speech on Hacking
03.4.08 | Filed under History, Ideas, Media, School.
Note: This is a preliminary draft of a speech I will give in a few days time for a public speaking contest. This is only a rough transcript, but one that I feel has a place on this blog, because many of the points made can be applied to design and information architecture.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, my fellow classmates, esteemed judges, and most excellent teachers. It is my great honor to be able to talk to you about a subject which I enjoy speaking on - the topic of hacking. It is a subject which I think some of you are familiar with, and I think it makes for an interesting speech.
The last twenty and thirty years has been an exciting time in the world of computers, a world which people my age seem to take for granted. The technology behind such powerful machines is advancing at a rapid rate, and likewise with the power of the internet. I would imagine most of you own or at least have used a computer at one time or another in the last several years. The advancement of this technology is so rapid that consumers are finding it hard to keep up with the latest gadgets and machines. Just try buying a computer tomorrow - within 8 months or less, it will have become somewhat outdated. So with all this information at our fingertips, it has become easier and easier to use our everyday technology for malicious purposes.
Viruses are an excellent example of how people have used computer technology to create a dangerous and uncontrollable piece of software that causes great amounts of damage. Many people will give the term “hacker” to the individuals who create these viruses, and the mainstream media has created stereotypes for these people. You hear about it on the 6 o’clock news, you read about it in the papers - how such individuals have “hacked” into networks and computers, causing as much damage as possible. I believe this to be grossly inaccurate.
The term hacking has been considerably abused and misused in the last 20 years. Consequently, the technology community that originally used the word has stayed hidden, rising to the surface of the mainstream internet only to face the charges brought against it by the authorities. 99% of the time these accusations are misdirected; the true hackers are above the level of malicious activity.
Hacking is simply the informal manipulation and modification of technology to increase our productivity and to make the world a better place. I say informal because the companies who produce the technology are constantly making changes to it, in a formal and more organized manner - and that’s not really hacking. Hacking is most certainly NOT the act of malicously attacking that many people think it is. Computer hackers are also known as security technicians, because they work to improve the strength and defenses of computers and internet servers. Time after time we hear of internet sites being “hacked” and taken down. We read descriptions of the people guilty of causing damage on the internet and think “yes, that sounds like a hacker to me”. The hacker figure has been burned into our minds as a troubled individual with no morals and less sense.
But hacking as a general term is not limited to computers or the internet. This is another area where people don’t know how the term hacking applies to. I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy cycling in the spring and summer. I’ve noticed over time how the roads around here have worn down my bicycle tires and brakes. So I’ve looked for ways to modify it, and to improve it. You could say I’m hacking my bicycle. Sure that sounds a little odd - maybe that’s why people who use the term are kind of laughed at. Again, if I was to try to improve the quality of sound my CD player produces without paying for expensive new headphones, I would find a “hack” to maybe replace the sound circuitry with gold connectors, solder better connections, and so on and so forth.
So what about all these “bad guys”? What category or class do they fall into? When I first began to read and discover the true definitions of hacking, I tended to regard the malicious activity as having nothing to do with hacking. But this is not true. The nefarious people engaging in illegal activity are generally refered to as “crackers”, “attackers”, or “black hats”. They are hackers in that they manipulate and modify computer technology, but they use these skills for the wrong reasons and want to create as much damage as possible.
So, how did this all begin? Many people would regard “phreaking” as the first form of hacking. It began in the United States during the late 1950s, and was led by a young boy named Joe Engressia, who became known as Joybubbles. He was blind, and he had perfect pitch, two things which enabled him to make greater use of his skills as a “phreaker”. When he was 7 years old, he discovered that whistling the fourth E above middle C (a frequency of exactly 2600 Hz) at the right moment would stop a dialed phone recording. He had no idea what it meant at the time, but he soon found out. It turned out that the frequency of 2600 Hz was an internal telephone company signal to take control of a trunk line, and by tapping into this line you could have free long distance phone calls. A huge wave of interest in phreaking followed this discovery. In the 1970s, Steve Jobs, now CEO of Apple, became involved in manufacturing electronic boxes that would reproduce the 2600 Hz signal. The generation of phone phreakers only began to call it quits a few years ago as the last US phone companies finished implementing new phone systems.
In conclusion, I would like to encourage you to think in a new way when you hear about hacking again. Think about how there are little-known people everywhere working to improve the way we live. My personal opinion is that hackers have a much better idea of how real world peace can be achieved than most political leaders do. Hackers realizd a long time ago that war and conflict will not solve our problems, and there is a better way to work towards solving the earth’s great problems. Just a thought. Think about it.
I look forward to answering any questions you have on this topic. Thank you very much, and good evening.
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