Hackers in America

People like Kevin Mitnick and Pengo came on to the scene exploiting systems and using the info they retrieved for illegal purposes. They were the ones that "represented something close to the cyberpunk idea of the computer "cowboy" who lives outside the law." (Cyberpunk, 10) Mitnick was a "dark side" (Cyberpunk, 10) computer hacker. He used his abilities to control the telecommunications networks and manipulate computers all over the world. Pengo was a kid who became immersed in the hacking sub culture, and he ended up being a secret agent for a group that sold secrets to the Soviet Government. Both of them saw it as a thrill, but both ended up being caught by their own arrogance and betrayals by the ones they trusted.
             The hacker subculture is one in which knowledge is key and trust is not always there. When talking about "Why Criminal Hackers Must Not be Rewarded" Dr. Kabay says the "fundamental problem" with hackers is their "complete lack of credibility. Criminal hackers believe in lying and cheating as a bedrock of their hobby."(1) He believes that hackers live in a mindset in which they are the brains and the society is meant to be "lame-brain jerks who don't know enough to protect themselves." (1) The movie War Games showed society that not only do they have brains, but also that society was blind to what was going on in the world. Matthew Broderick plays a kid in high school that is smart, but is at the same time bored in class and would rather be learning at his computer than stuck in a classroom. The public is what labeled them however, and as they viewed them "computer hackers posed a sinister, if also somewhat vague, threat."(Cyberpunk, 9).
             The different aspects in society play an important role in what hackers are thought of. In the Kabay piece he is speaking to the business community and government and how it should be stopped there. He believes that if businesses and government stop hiring hackers it would stop the "message you would be giving some thirteen year old proto-hacker" of "not only is criminal hacking glittering with the allure of the forbidden right now, but you can hope to earn money from the government.