Peter Burnett

 

 

 

Welcome to the website of author

Peter Burnett

 

 

http://leamingtonbooks.com

Following the ill fated horror of The Clipper Chip, and the Communications Decency Act, Bill Clinton remarked in 1999:

'We are alreday seeing the first wave of deliberate cyber attacks - hackers breaking into business and government computers, stealing and detroying information, raiding bank accounts, running up credit card charges, extorting monyer by threats to unleash computer viruses.'

This portrayal of hackers as sociopaths and criminals is excatly what the haxor disliked.  Even then and still today, hackers are linked to technological failures, and as long ago as that, hackers were portrayed as the enemy of society. 

For example, it doesn't take a hacker to gain access to emails or other documents, as more often than not it is employees of companies who abuse their access and violate privacy.  Disgruntled employess, organised criminals, industrial spies and foreign or domestic intelligence operatives are not hackers, but the 'lone hacker' is something of a myth. 

Hackers are not the miscreants we are now led to belive they are, but over the years we've come to see this portrayal that anyone creating havoc on a computer network - is a hacker.  This then leads to the situation inn which the guys that DO do this sort of thing calling themselves hackers.  We can't award any evildoer with an internet connection the title of hacker.  Wea lready have too much ill-thought out legislation and unwarranted fear.