[posted to the 'full-disclosure' list]
Because of my philosophical leanings, I have made the assumption that freedom of speech and expression is an inalienable right granted by nature’s God. I have made the extension to this statement that the freedom to write code and execute your code is an extension to free speech. Fascists that may disagree with my statements may go ahead and skip this post.
Now, let us say you have a machine connected to the Internet. It is impossible, by this computer’s very nature, for it to do anything that is was not programmed to do. It takes in the data that it is given, processes it according to deterministic rules, and returns output that it could not possibly have deviated from. This process may be so complex that it appears to be stochastic, but it is nonetheless deterministic and we should not pretend it is anything but. This deterministic sequencing extends far beyond just your computer. If every element in a system is deterministic, then the whole system itself is deterministic. The entire Internet is a single, uninterrupted deterministic state machine.
I present to you the Eleatic school of hacker ethics.
The Internet is public property. No establishment has a right to own it, subvert it, subject it, or rule over it. It extends beyond race, nationality, religion, or geopolitical agreement. Now that we understand that the Internet is a single deterministic machine, we may approach this situation with logic and reason as opposed to knee-jerk reactionary idiocy. When connected to the Internet, your computer becomes a part of this deterministic machine. It is impossible for your computer to execute any code which it has not been programmed to execute. If your computer has been programmed to accept my arbitrary code, then there is no moral or ethical violation committed when I introduce my code to yours.
If you download and execute my code, you have done so willingly.
If your daemon executes my code after I introduce it in a manner that is innovative and unique, then your daemon has done exactly what it has been programmed to do.
You don’t want me to execute my code inside your code? Then keep your machine out of OUR deterministic state machine. Keep it on your own private network, so that someone will have to commit a real honest-to-God crime like breaking and entering to have access to it. The minute you connect it to a public network, it becomes connected to all of us through the 0 and 1.
Whitehats will try to play games and act like they’re the good guys. They will tell you that people who commit “computer crimes” are organized crime types who are out to empty your grandma’s bank account. Their arguments are bullshit. No doubt that emptying someone’s bank account is a serious crime, but we have real laws to punish this. The laws that we have made to punish “information crimes” are merely laws against thoughtcrime. It is impossible to commit crimes that extend solely in the wired.
Take a look at what your governments are doing. The majority of whitehats are employed in the US, where they have a leader that willingly and openly defies the fourth amendment of their constitution. They have a corporate oligarchy where a select few families get to control ninety-nine percent of the public funds and purposefully impoverish the working and intellectual classes. Things are only marginally brighter in the rest of the first world. This is your idea of a utopia, the system that you want to perpetuate indefinitely? Do you really want the tyrants in this new Rome to reign a thousand years like the last one did? I sure don’t, so stop preaching to me a bunch of bullshit about rule of law.
Wake up.
Stop working for these oligarchs that despise you. Band together, because at this point all that keeps the oligarchs in power is control over the ones and zeros. We have a power to change them for the better, a chance to make a lasting contribution to humanity.
You can be a hero in the manner of Plato, of Socrates, of Pappus, Pascal, Parmenides and Zeno. You can change the world. All you need is to cast off the shackles that your masters have put on you!
Be fearless.
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This article is really good.
Too many people let the 6 o’clock news tell them what’s good and what’s evil. They’ve turned innocent terms like “hacker” into fear-based sensationalist buzzwords. They’re turning knowledgable computer users into “cyberterrorists” over stupid things like filesharing, or even simple blogging, and spreading “dangerous” information.
People need to wake up. It’s only a matter of time till Western governments lock down the internet like certain Asian countries have.
Comment by Hexxenn — December 21, 2005 @ 1:08 am
So, hackers who exercise their freedom of expression, and in doing so degrade the performance of personal computers to the degree that they’re practically unusable are in no way responsible for the consequences of their actions? If blackhats want to hack, all we can do is shut up or shut down?
I find this line of reasoning particularly disturbing. I think an apt anology is that if I want to drive my car on public roads, I have to deal with the fact that you’re a bad driver or stop driving. It places the obligation on me as a good driver to stop driving so that you can ignore traffic laws at your whim.
Comment by spaceghoti — January 23, 2006 @ 12:47 pm
What makes me laugh is they want to call hackers “Cyber Terrorists” and charge them with Terrorism. Their sending hackers to military prisons without a trial, this is hugely unconsitutional.
Comment by blackhat — March 8, 2007 @ 10:50 pm
ford dealer in houston
Comment by Mosque — June 24, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
Best justification for bio-terror I’ve ever heard…
> Now, let us say you have a machine connected to the Internet. It is
Now let us say you have a human body connected to the atmosphere.
> deterministic, then the whole system itself is deterministic. The entire
> Internet is a single, uninterrupted deterministic state machine.
The entire atmosphere is a single, connected entity. [It really is; there's
that famous butterfly effect that people talk about]
> I present to you the Eleatic school of hacker ethics.
I present to you the Eleatic school of bio-terror.
> The Internet is public property. No establishment has a right to own it,
The atmosphere is public property. [etc etc]
> subvert it, subject it, or rule over it. It extends beyond race,
> nationality, religion, or geopolitical agreement. Now that we understand
> that the Internet is a single deterministic machine, we may approach this
> situation with logic and reason as opposed to knee-jerk reactionary idiocy.
yeah yeah… all this too; take it as read
> When connected to the Internet, your computer becomes a part of this
When connected to the atmosphere, your body becomes a part of this…
> deterministic machine. It is impossible for your computer to execute any
[ok it's not that deterministic, but neither are computers actually, not 100%
anyway]
> code which it has not been programmed to execute. If your computer has been
> programmed to accept my arbitrary code, then there is no moral or ethical
If your body has bee programmed to inhale my arbitrary gases, [etc]
> violation committed when I introduce my code to yours.
…introduce my aerosol-based mass poisons to your body.
> If you download and execute my code, you have done so willingly.
If you inhaled my poisons, you have done so willingly.
> If your daemon executes my code after I introduce it in a manner that is
> innovative and unique, then your daemon has done exactly what it has been
> programmed to do.
> You don’t want me to execute my code inside your code? Then keep your
You don’t want me to poison the atmosphere near you?
> machine out of OUR deterministic state machine. Keep it on your own private
Then keep your body out of OUR atmosphere. Live in a sealed private house
> network, so that someone will have to commit a real honest-to-God crime like
> breaking and entering to have access to it. The minute you connect it to a
> public network, it becomes connected to all of us through the 0 and 1.
The minute you breathe in the public atmosphere, your body becomes connected
to all of us through atoms and molecules.
[etc etc etc; I'm already tired of this stupid game...]
Comment by senawario — July 11, 2009 @ 3:19 am
C’mon guys. I know you’re trying to promote security from the ground up and from your earlier posts I see that you guys are really good at programming and stuff.
Now I’ll admit that my programming knowledge goes no further than a few simple C programs and some simple Assembly programming based on the Intel 8051 instruction set (yeah it’s really nothing to shout about, I know).
But what I see is a bunch of really talented guys that are hacking servers all over the place when you guys with your clearly awesome programming skills do something great.
You know kernels? Well how about writing an OS that allows all programs the run in Windows to be compatible with it, hence finally freeing us from the monopoly? I mean let’s face it okay, unless Linux can offer full Windows compatibility without the need to recompile, the masses arent going to move.
You know protocol security and other network security details? Well how about releasing a firewall that pulverises all the expensive crap we see in the market today?
You know how to bring down BGP? OSPF? Then why not make the Anti-Sec Routing Protocl (ASRP)?
I have this friend, he’s my best friend and although I’m not gay, his friendship means a lot to me. He’s really a brilliant dude, not in programming, but in his own electronics engineering field. The best part about him is that despite all his flaws, he put a shit load of effort to teach others and to help his peers understand what they’re studying.
You guys are brilliant, you guys are capable of so much more than posting JPEGs with manifestos on it all over the web.
One thing you need to understand about the nature of corporations is that they’ve been around for about 300 years now. The only way to defeat their stranglehold is to ensure that the masses are educated, attacking them head on like this is not going to help, the people are too befuddled at the moment to see who the real crooks are and they’re gonna soak up what the “whitehats” as you call them say to them.
You want a revolution? I’m all for it, but subtlety is key here. Knowledge is the enabler that will move the people. Teach people, help them see what you see. Give them the skills that you have. This is the only way you can change the world, because as you go on, your strength can only increase as more do what you do and spread knowledge.
Comment by Regina — July 11, 2009 @ 1:38 pm