Purpose of Hacking
When hacking began in the early 1950s, it began with a purpose of finding simple solutions or ways around technical problems when dealing with computing systems. The term “hacked” or “hacks” was first used by a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology describing the situation when his technology students would look for short cuts, or even to perform it as an experiment. These kinds of experiments often served the purpose of making certain functions easier through technology. They were also curious to see what computing obstacles could be “hacked”, or bypassed, when using the computer as a tool for hacks.
Calculators and even video game systems can even be utilized as a common way to perform simple hacks (otherwise known as a “cool hack”). However, more recently, the purpose of hacking is normally associated with computer crimes and it is used as a means to commit more malicious actions (often referred to as an “ugly hack”).
Many computer crimes committed today involve the perpetrator hacking into accounts without authorization in order to obtain private information as a means to inconvenience, steal, or commit fraud against their victim(s). Hacked computer systems remain one of the most dangerous and frightening fears of the modern era, not least because often it is unclear that a computer system has been hacked until it is too late.
Computer fraud is one of the most common computer crimes, which involves a criminal illegally collecting secured information with the means to deceive, and it is often used a means to gain finances and/or materials. A common form of computer fraud, involving hacks, is when a violator makes his/her way into a private account online to gather another individual’s credit card information. This information is used to help the criminal access items, but it is at the victim’s expense.
One of the biggest computer crime threats that the United States faces today involves criminals hacking into Government computers as a means to commit cyberwarfare. Cyberwarfare is implemented when the terrorist hacks into a private account to obtain classified information as a means to cause real world harm.
When a Government computer is hacked, it leaves Government officials to question our country’s network security system and our safety. Warring countries may commit espionage when a spy hacks into the Government’s computers and they can use this information as a means to commit cyber warfare.
Government reports concluded that China hacked or attempted to hack into the United States Government’s computers, which prompted President Barack Obama to create the position of a cyber security tsar and a cyber security office within the White House.