New-Age Hackers Are Ditching Old Ethics
Hacking is a phenomenon that has been around since at least the 1960s, initially as an exploration into computing more broadly, fueled by the insatiable curiosity of an eternally brilliant community of "hackers," and in large part, that remains true today. Unfortunately, the term "hacking" can conjure up scenes of a lonely individual in a hoodie behind a keyboard, bullying and stealing from victims with ease from the safety of a poorly lit basement room. Although this trope is an exaggeration, there are those within the hacking community who have joined forces to use their powers for evil, forming digital cartels of all sorts, with their own codes of conduct.
As cybercrime has advanced, there historically has been a respected cadre of early hackers who believed in having some guardrails in place as to who is an authorized target of fraud or hacking. This group is now contending and negotiating with a new generation of hackers who believe in profit above all else, regardless of threats to innocent life or geopolitical implications.
Targets such as hospitals, where the potential loss of human life was very real, were off limits. Additionally, critical infrastructure was avoided altogether, because such attacks against a country's infrastructure are considered an act of war, which is not something criminal hackers are interested in provoking. The Colonial Pipeline attack walked a very fine line in this regard because, technically, the hackers did not disrupt pipeline deliveries. But it still was a very big wake-up call to governments, defenders, and researchers as attacks such as these continue to persist on a global scale.
