Why I don’t want to become a hacker

“Where the only winning move is not to play.”

– WarGames

At the start of this challenge I promised to write about hacking, it’s a subject that has fascinated me since childhood. I’d grown up on books like The Hacker Diaries : Confessions of Teenage Hackers and movies such as Sneakers, the result of which left me in awe at the power of electronic manipulation.

During the past month, I’ve actually found several sources where I could learn to hack. I’ve chosen to engage in none of them. I don’t need to learn how to destroy, anyone can do that, I need to learn how to create. While I am aware that hacking does have positive uses, I still don’t want to entrust myself with that kind of power. Learning how to break into computers and websites is like learning how to pick locks, eventually you’re going to use your skills to go somewhere you shouldn’t.

I’m not trying to knock anyone who does hack, and I respect the guys who use their abilities to bust child porn sites and corruption. I just know that I don’t feel responsible enough to hold that type of power. The ability to go through other peoples emails, browsing history, and bank statements (all through the veil of an anonymous proxy server); would be too tempting.

if the day ever comes where I’m completely void of any mischievous inclinations, I might get into the hacking scene. Until then, I’ll just stick to learning Python.