Michael Meyer raises the issue of the potential threat hackers can pose to Internet users. Meyers only points out the destructive side of the hackers. Many of them are not out to do evil, but they have received a bad reputation because of a few bad apples. A hacker is defined as being "a talented amateur user of computers." Not until the 1980s, when "The Great Hacker War" began, did police actually start cracking down on hackers. Kevin Mitnick, a hacker arrested for his criminal activity, put a blemish on the world of hacking. After years of harmless hacking, the field was becoming more criminal and less ethical. Many true hackers, such as Aaron Ingram, say, "Society seems to give hackers a bad name because of negative media exposure" (Phillips 1).

Meyers, perhaps from his own experience with hackers, has developed a negative opinion of them. He sees nothing redeeming about them. Bruce Lehman, U.S. commissioner of patents and trademarks, relates that hacking is "like shoplifting" (111). Many people agree with Lehman and Meyers. Because of their concerns, security has been beefed up on the Internet; however, it is still only a minor irritation to an experienced hacker. Bruce Schneier, in an interview with Frontline, says, "Security is a chain. A chain includes the mathematics, includes the protocols, the software, the implementation, the user interface, the people. The security of that chain is only as strong as the weakest link" (1). Unfortunately, that is the way Internet security is set up, and, until each of those aspects can be perfected, "crimes of the net" will continue to be commonplace.

The Internet is a place of anonymity, and, as long as that is true, hackers will continue to thrive. The important thing to remember is that, like any other occupation out there, there are good apples and bad ones. It is wrong to assume that all hackers are out to destroy our computers, steal our credit cards, and ruin our electronic well being. If we believe that all hackers are evil, we will find it difficult to find trustworthy computer repairmen because, by the definition of hacker; they fit the qualifications.

Meyer, Michael. "Crimes of the 'Net.'" CyberReader.  2nd ed.  Ed. Victor J. Vitanza.  Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 1999. 111-114.

Phillips, Tami. 2001. "Computer Hackers Are Not Always So Harmful." <http://www.printz.usm.edu/features/4-4hack.html>.

Schneier, Bruce. "Hackers: An Interview." Frontline. 2001. <http://www.pbs.org>.

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