This bad hacker?No, this bad court.Everything you would like to know about hacker culture

The "Dworczykleaks" scandal is developing at its best: a confidential conversation on the telegram goes to another emails from the private box of Minister Michał Dworczyk, head of the prime minister's office.Not only his, but everyone with whom he corresponded, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.Using private email boxes while she was the Secretary of State of the USA was plunged by the presidential aspirations of Hillary Clinton, the former British Health Minister Matt Hancock has trouble for the same reason..Meanwhile, Minister Dworczyk gained water in the mouth, at his press conferences, journalists asking about the e -mail scandal are silenced.

But this text will not be about it.The environment of activists working for free software and digital rights has been pointing out for some time that - like other media - we use the word hacker by equalizing it practically with a cybercriminter.Meanwhile, the hacker is ... everything explains on their behalf Michał "Rysiek" Woźniak, one of the founders of the Warsaw Hackerspace and B.President of the Free and Open Software Foundation:


Nie oddamy słowa "haker” bez walki

Heavily seasoning media messages regarding the issues of information security, burglaries, leaks, and cyber attacks with the words "hacker", "hack" and similar, is problematic:

  1. Utrudnia rzetelne zdanie sprawy z przyczyn danego wydarzenia, a w efekcie niemal uniemożliwia rzeczową debatę publiczną.
  2. Demonizuje kreatywną społeczność majsterkowiczów i majsterkowiczek, artystek i artystów, badaczek i badaczy systemów informatycznych, czy osób zajmujących się bezpieczeństwem informacji.
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Burglary into Michał Dworczyk's postal account is perfectly illustrated by the first problem.

Titles in the style of "hacker attack on Dworczyk" or "Happy Government" put Dworczyk and the government as victims, which were "attacked" by some alleged but unknown (and thus terrible) "hackers", on which the responsibility is transferred.

Perhaps she would focus on the fact that Michał Dworczyk behaved in an extremely irresponsible way.Perhaps we were also wondering why public figures use private postal accounts for official communication - are they trying to hide something?

These are not hypothetical divagations, after all, after the publication of information about the leakage of emails, part of the government message of the day were "hackers from Russia" ...

The problem is broader: every time it turns out that some crossed device has not been secured sufficiently by the manufacturer (from bulbs, through cars, to sex-feet), the media write about "hacking" and "hackers" instead of focusing onsuppliers of a defective, dangerous product.As a result, a lot of energy goes into debating how to "protect yourself against hackers".

On the one hand, this does not solve actual problems (a government avoiding the use of safe state infrastructure, officials not using basic security, manufacturers selling dangerous products).

On the other: legal regulations (like American CFAA) are created, who treat technically and interesting people as dangerous criminals and terrorists.This leads to a situation where someone finds a security problem in a large company, informs this company, after which he is accused of "burglary".

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Hacker community

A large part of these technically talented people would call themselves "hackers".On the other hand, not all hackers and hackers are technical people.Hacker is someone curious about the world, thinking unusual, who likes to cross borders and share knowledge: "information wants to be free".

The hacker does not have to be an IT specialist.Great examples of hackers from the Polish yard are the ingenious Dobromir, Antonisz, Adam Słodowy.Perfectly illustrate a creative approach to solving problems, the desire to help others.

The Polish hacker community is concentrated around hackers.Most of them have a legal form (usually it is an association or foundation), members and members, headquarters, management.

They also became the subject of scientific work in the field of sociology.

Globally, hackers and hackers are similarly active: they take part in social consultations, use 3D printers for the production of missing spare parts for hospitals, or help those who protest during Arab spring to celebrate internet blockades.

It is difficult to give the initial date of the hacker movement - Ada Lovelace is the most fit in - but the Tech Model Railroad Club is often mentioned as an important place and time (turn of the 1940s.and 50.XX in.) for the birth of contemporary hacker culture.The first contemporary hackers were railway modelers.At that time in the Polish People's Republic we called them "DIY".

Along with the popularization of personal computers and the Internet, hacker culture has spread and blurred a bit.Hackers were created, or "Hacker Clubs": spaces in which hackers and hackers can realize their passions and exchange knowledge.There is a place for a quiet work with a laptop, WiFi, electricity, and coffee.Sometimes there is a server room.There is often a workshop for work with wood or metal, 3D printers, electronic workshop, laser plotter.Larger hackers (like the Warsaw one) have heavier equipment, for example lathe.

Hackers create an informal, global network of places where people from the community, lost in an unknown city, can access electricity and internet, and find friendly company.Over time, some hackers associates in larger hacker organizations, such as the German Chaos Computer Club.Related movements were also created: free software movement, free culture movement.

Ten zły haker? Nie, ten zły Dworczyk. Wszystko, co chcielibyście wiedzieć o kulturze hakerskiej

Fablaby and makerspaces also appeared, which focus more on the practical, creative side of the hacker movement.

The borders are blurred, many fablabów and makerspaces do not feel part of the hacker movement.Roughly: Makerspaces put less emphasis on a hacker ethos, focusing more on doing things.They are also generally interested in electronics and computer science.Fablaby, in turn, are makerspaces less focused on building a community, and more to make available (usually for a fee) work on all interested parties.

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Hacker ethos

There is no one, globally recognized definition of a hacker ethos.However, there are some permanent elements that appear basically on every list:

Hackers and hackers are often very sensitive to the difference between the fact that something is unlawful and the fact that something is unethical.

Hence the support of the hacker community for journalistic organizations or non -governmental organizations.

Hence, tools such as Tor Project, Secredrop, Signal or Aleph, widely used by journalistic organizations around the world, and initiated and created by people from the hacker community.

Hence, groups of groups such as Telecomix, from helping to celebrate the internet blockade in Tunisia or Egypt, to stealing logs proveing that American companies helped the Syria government to censor the Internet and spy on Syrians.

Why did Telecomix decide to steal these logs?Because the actions of the Syria government and American companies cooperating with him were extremely unethical, and the technology was used by them for purposes that for hackers are unacceptable: blocking access to knowledge and throttling of the opposition.Hacker ethos in action.

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Hackers and burglars

As usual in ethical issues, the assessment of such activities is not black and white and unambiguous.The border between the hacker and the cybercriminator is blurred, determined roughly by this undefined ethos.However, this does not give a license for the equation of all hackers and hackers for cyber criminals.

A good translation of the verb "Hack" (in the context of hacker culture) is "tampering".Usually means something completely innocent, like repairing your bike or mounting shelves in the garage.

It is true that "tinkering" at someone else's lock to the door sounds suspicious, but we will not say: "Someone told me to the apartment and stole the TV".

It would be absurd to talk about the "DIY gang" only on the basis of the fact that tools were used with a greater robbery.

We would not talk about "DIY" if the youth group broke into the teaching room, breaking the lock with a screwdriver.

Finally, we would not talk about "DIY" also when a given criminal group would be financed, equipped, and trained by a specific state that would set the goals of its burglaries.

Somehow, however, we are not surprised by titles like: "Russian -speaking hackers hacked the police in Washington" or quotes such as "the police tracked the young hacker, now it will be dealt with by a family court.".

An organized criminal group is something else (no matter if it works on the web or outside), a juvenile vandal, and a spy cell.A thirteen-year-old from Gdańsk has nothing to do with Russian cyber-whales, in turn, not much with a gang of criminals extorting tribute on-line. Nazywanie ich wszystkich "hakerami” niewiele wnosi i nic nie wyjaśnia.

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Collision with reality

Angielski czasownik "hack” znaczy "ciosać”, "rąbać”. Z czasem, na MIT właśnie, stało się też rzeczownikiem i nabrało znaczenia "psikus”, "psota”, zwłaszcza gdy chodziło o żarty wymagające inwencji i poświęcenia. W kulturze hakerskiej przyjęło też dodatkowy sens: "niekoniecznie eleganckie, ale skuteczne i błyskotliwe rozwiązanie jakiegoś problemu”.

"Problemem” może tu być złe napięcie w szynach modelu kolejki, blokada Internetu w Tunezji, albo… brak otwartego dostępu do biblioteki tekstów naukowych. A skoro "informacja chce być wolna”, to trzeba jej pomóc.

Tyle tylko, że to już może zostać łatwo zinterpretowane jako "cyberatak” – na bazie wspomnianych regulacji prawnych pisanych w celu "obrony przed hakerami”.This led to the honor of a hacker, activist, co -founder of Reddit, the originator of Secredrop and co -creator of the RSS format, Aaron Swartz.After his death, the JSTOR decided to open his collections a bit for the public.

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A short guide to hacker culture

How to name people who break into individual and collective systems for bad purposes?

Burglars or cyber criminals, if we talk about criminal burglary.Vandals (with adjective, e.g.. "cyfrowymi”, "sieciowymi”, itp.), if we say e.g.. o włamaniu i podmienieniu treści jakiejś strony – zwłaszcza jeśli nie było specjalnie skomplikowane technicznie (jak admin1 na stronie premier.gov.pl).(Cyber) spies, when it comes to attacks conducted, financed or related to the governments of specific countries.

Jeśli brakuje konkretnych informacji, zawsze można nazwać ich "atakującymi”, "agresorami”, itp.

Uwaga techniczna: często nie doszło nawet do włamania! Na przykład w przypadku "młodych hakerów”, którzy rzekomo się "włamali” na serwery e-dziennika, okazuje się, że atakujący "doprowadzili do ich [serwerów] przeciążenia, utrudniając na pewien czas prowadzenie zdalnych lekcji”.It is as if a group of people created an artificial crowd before entering school - it is hard to call a burglary!

When to call someone a hacker?

W takich samych sytuacjach, w których (gdyby dane wydarzenie nie było związane z komputerami), nazwalibyśmy ich "majsterkowiczami”.It's really a pretty good model.

"[Majsterkowicze] włamali się do gabloty szkolnej i umieścili w niej niestosowne komunikaty” – raczej nie brzmi dobrze. Nawet, jeśli ci wandale sami siebie nazywają "majsterkowiczami”. A więc również nie "[Hakerzy] włamali się na stronę i podmienili treść”.

"[Majsterkowicze] wyprodukowali 50.000 anti -coovid fists and sent to hospitals and medical institutions " - it works. A więc i "hakerzy wyprodukowali…”.

"[Majsterkowicze] włamali się do mieszkania ministra” nie ma sensu. A zatem również nie "hakerzy włamali się na konto ministra”: "nieznani sprawcy”, "osoby podejrzane o współpracę ze służbami obcego kraju”, itp.

What are hookatons?

Hakatons are events where technically talented people try to solve a problem in a short time or achieve a goal.Hakatons can, for example, be social (like Random Hacks of Kindness, or formerly Polish Sochack, or focused on creating startups (like startup weekend).

What is hacking really?

Hanging is nothing but DIY, but maybe a bit more suggests using computers (and not always).Really, really.You can find out about it in any local hackers.

Is the fight for this date not lost anymore?Isn't it better to find a different word for this community?

Próbowaliśmy: "haktywista” i "aktywista cyfrowy” nie wzięły się znikąd. I natychmiast zaczęły być używane w znaczeniu "cyberprzestępca”, na przykład tu:

Inne słowa zostały "odzyskane” przez ich społeczności.The LGBTQ+ community has effectively recovered words that were pejorative terms of homosexual people (no one in the media will write about them today using e.g.. nazwy części rowerowej, a przecież jeszcze w "Seksmisji” bohater mówi "nie róbcie z nas pederastów”!).Similarly, the community of black people in the United States has effectively regained the word-n-n.

I wreszcie, być może najważniejsze: czemu w ogóle mielibyśmy oddawać to słowo bez walki? Tak się nazwaliśmy, tak nasza społeczność się określa, czy nie należy się nam jakiś zupełnie podstawowy szacunek? Dlaczego mielibyśmy się po cichu zgadzać na publiczne równanie z kryminalistami i szpiegami tylko dlatego, że łatwiej pisać "haker” niż zastanowić się, co się faktycznie wydarzyło w danej sytuacji?

OKO.press to medium obywatelskie. Utrzymujemy się z dobrowolnych wpłat Czytelników.Dorzuć sięKomentarze

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NGO, Michał Dworczyk, Mail scandal hackers

Michał rysiek Woźniak

(https: // fig.IO/) is a specialist in.Information security in the IS domain register.He studied philosophy, he was a member of the council.Digitization, he is a co -founder of the Warsaw Hackerspace.He worked as a director of.Information security at OCCRP - The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a consortium of investigative centers, media and journalists operating in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Central America, and previously managed the Free and Open Software Foundation.He cooperates with a number of non -governmental organizations dealing with digital laws in the country and abroad. Współautor "Net Neutrality Compendium”, oraz “Katalogu Kompetencji Medialnych”.