People bear different opinions with regards to the morality of hacking. The controversy revolving around the morality of hacking comes from the negative implication associated with the act. Indeed, hacking has been the basis of debate on various policies that are geared towards enhancement of security systems. Despite this negative association, hacking cannot be regarded as an unethical act. Hacking as a concept is driven by numerous motivations including the betterment of society. The world has for a long time focused on the negative aspects of hacking turning a blind eye on the potential benefits of the concept. Hacking has been employed in the retrieval of important informational as well as the cracking of passwords necessary for the sustenance of organizations (Wible, 2003). For instance, the security of an organization’s system can be ascertained through controlled hacking attempts aimed at identifying different loopholes. Some of the advantages of hacking have been identified as better awareness and the increased knowledge on the subject. Such was the goodwill that AMCE had when they organized their hacking contest aimed at identifying loopholes in their system. Nonetheless, the event is faced with controversy regarding its ethical implications on the society. While negative aspects are bound to occur, the contest had more benefits that offset the negative implications identified. In the end, the ACME contest is testament that hacking is an ethical practice with long-term benefits.

The hacking contest organized by ACME brings forth the debate on the motivations behind hacking and its place in society. Naturally, hackers have been viewed in a negative way owing to the implications of their actions. For the longest time, the common person has failed to understand the different uses of hacking, both positive and negative. In fact, the society has been tied on the negative aspects of hacking for such a long time not to notice any positive aspects. There is no denying that hacking has been used in wrong deeds in the past resulting in massive loss of information and undermining of organizations’ integrity (Smith et al, 2002). However, hacking may also be used positively in advancing just causes such as the one organized by ACME. It is common for large organizations to call on the expertise of hackers in accessing information that they would have otherwise lost. Normally, hackers are called into action whenever companies lose their passwords or when their systems are malfunctioning. In these instances, their expertise is crucial in the retrieval of important and sensitive information associated with the affected organization.

While the contest was organized with the sole intention of testing the resilience of the system, questions surface regarding its ethical aspects. ACME could not control the type of hackers that participated in the activity. In light of this foregoing, the company may have attracted potential black-hat hackers whose sole intention is to harness their skills in light of a challenging contest presented by the organization. This fact cannot be ignored as past events have shown that this is how malicious hackers come to develop their skills. Some scholars have associated the increase in the number of hackers with the organization of such events in the past (Conti et al, 2011). There is the possibility that the contest may increase the number of ill-intentioned hackers resulting in future attempts to hack into the systems of other organizations. However, this eventuality cannot be associated with the contest entirely as hackers have numerous avenues for learning their trade. The high motivation in black-hat hackers is not drawn from the potential of hacking opportunities but the desire to cause trouble.

It is very easy to point out the negative implications of the hacking contest perhaps due to the general perception that hacking is evil. While these assertions of negativity are true, there are numerous aspects in which the event could contribute positively to the society. In fact, the focus on the negative impacts of the event has dwarfed the possibility of positive outcomes. Nonetheless, the event imparts knowledge on potentially good hackers who can be used in the repair of systems in future. This crop of hackers is important to society as they aid in the diagnosis of problems in different systems and the eventual rectification (Mink & Freiling, 2006). In addition, the event increases the level of awareness with regardless to technology as more companies become aware of the potential risks of hacking. The contest serves as a warning to other organizations that they need to identify weaknesses in their systems since they might be vulnerable to attack at any time.. The industry stands to benefit through the increase in good hackers that can offset the potential threat of the ill-intentioned hackers.

The deontology theory of ethics can help in shedding some light on this discussion. The theory is relevant as it deals with what is intrinsically right or wrong. It borrows from universal moral concepts in ascertaining the ethical aspects of an action. The contest as organized was meant to bolster the security of the organization’s system. The company did not break any set rules when it came up with the contest. The driving force was the responsibility of ensuring that the company’s systems were secure from any possible breach.  Therefore, the deontology theory of ethics dictates that the event was morally sound and ethically motivated. By focusing on the identification of loopholes in the system, the hacking event served the goals of improving the general well being of the society. In addition, the event aimed to recognize the hard work of hackers in identifying loopholes and actually awarded a prize to the winner. In this case, the contest not only benefitted the company but the winning hacker through recognition and award. The company had no control over the participants and their motives but was only interested in imparting important knowledge to the people. These actions can only be in accordance with the moral principles of ethics.

In conclusion, this topic is controversial in its own way. It brings about debates that would go round and round without people having to come to an agreement. The act of hacking is not unethical in its own. However, the negative consequences that come with these actions are the subject of debate. Why do people want to learn how to hack in the first place if they do not want to cause harm? This is a question that an individual supporting the concept that hacking as being unethical would raise. However, it is quite easy to counter this question. How would the black-hat hackers be contained if white-hat hackers did not exist? Companies’ systems would be at the risk of being breached without the relevant parties knowing what to in dealing with such a situation. Simply put, hackers will always exist regardless of whether contests like the ones promulgated by AMCE exist or not. Therefore, AMCE had no wrong doing since they operated bearing in mind that their systems might be breached. This is to say that the concept of hacking is ethical; however, the intentions driving the hacker might make it unethical. It is more on the person conducting the act, than “hacking” as a concept.

Reference

Wible, B. (2003). A site where hackers are welcome: Using hack-in contests to shape preferences and deter computer crime. The Yale Law Journal, 112(6), 1577-1623.

Smith, B., Yurcik, W., & Doss, D. (2002). Ethical hacking: the security justification redux. In Technology and Society, 2002.(ISTAS’02). 2002 International Symposium on (pp. 374-379). IEEE.

Conti, G., Babbitt, T., & Nelson, J. (2011). Hacking competitions and their untapped potential for security education. IEEE Security & Privacy, 9(3), 56-59.

Mink, M., & Freiling, F. C. (2006, September). Is attack better than defense?: teaching information security the right way. In Proceedings of the 3rd annual conference on Information security curriculum development (pp. 44-48). ACM.

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