When is it O.K. to hack?

[fashizzlepop]

Its always okay to hack, it's never okay to destroy unless you are being vigilant.

[ShadowReaper1992]

I feel that if you wish to hack, use it consturctively to benefit the majority of people. Those who would expliot the less fourtuante, or those that steal from them, whether it be higher taxes or crackers stealing personal information... neither of those are accepable. I may not be very experienced when it comes to hacking, but there are a few point's that I feel should be discussed. One is that we are all human beings... we should all try to get along, or we will end up destroying that which we have helped create. Nowadays the media portrays a Hacker as someone who breaks into a system and wrecks mulltiple lives. I have decided to devote time and energy to this site, not because I want to take away from anyone, but because I myself am learning various weaknesses to improve upon, and then correct. I guess you could call me a gray hat hacker... I don't mind the legal risks as long as certain information is protected. There are certain rare cases where I do believe that personal information could be avaliable to others, such as a pedophile lving down the street from you and your children, or a black hat hacker who takes from others without even bothering to see if those they steal from can really afford it. I know I may be shunned, but I don't care. We should help those in need, and leave those well off with enough to survive. You all may not agree with my ideas, but I believe in them.

[pretentious]

a little necro but anyway. I think hacker ethics come down to common sense. While personally i think it's pretty naive to say, "only use computers for the good of humanity etc.", We all have our reasons for doing what we do. I think anyone who destroys for the sake of destruction is a bit of a douche.

[LoGiCaL__]

It's never o.k. to hack. Hence the name. The best hack always goes undetected. So, all these viruses/malware that makes your pc go slow is really not as "leet" as you think it is. I'm an advocate of "first learn the technology" and then learn. Learn enough to build sites/apps/programs then learn enough to "hack"....that's when it's ok.

When is it O.K. to hack?? Look at the color of your hat.

[nerdysmurf]

I think that it is ok to poke around sites, trying to find security flaws, so long as you do not USE to holes that you find, and you report the bugs.

[pretentious]

I think that it is ok to poke around sites, trying to find security flaws

Is it illegal to try and fail? I couldn't imagine being arrested for typing "or 1 = 1" into a text field. Do you become a criminal the minute you beat the system? And what about DDOS attacks where the bots are consenting?(i think anonymous has something like that, might be wrong) Servers are build to process requests, what's illegal about Giving a lot to them

[limdis]

Is it illegal to try and fail? I couldn't imagine being arrested for typing "or 1 = 1" into a text field. Do you become a criminal the minute you beat the system? And what about DDOS attacks where the bots are consenting?(i think anonymous has something like that, might be wrong) Servers are build to process requests, what's illegal about Giving a lot to them

Tis a very broad gray line. Depends largely on the state/country the server is housed in and where you are located. In short, no. But yes. You brute force a website for a few hours get ready to get a lawsuit if you get busted. It's considered a theft of services by preventing proper bandwidth allocations to the host. If the site is used for business it gets even more complicated. You can't really get into trouble for little SQL injections that fail. Even if one works its still technically not illegal at the said point. If you pursue further then yes.