Hackers Hacking Has an Interesting Thesis

For his activities, he was banned from using the Oxford University computers. Here he also built his first computer from scratch, using a soldering iron, TTL gates, and M6800 processor and a television.

Later, Berners-Lee worked with CERN, a nuclear research organization in Europe. Here he created a hypertext prototype system to facilitate sharing and updating information. Later, Berners-Lee combined hypertext with the Internet, and the World Wide Web was born. At MIT, he also founded the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C.

Linus Torvalds is a white hat hacker who is credited with the creation of the Linux operating system. He began his computer career with a Commodore VIC-20, after which he worked with a Sinclair QL, which he modified extensively. In 1991, Torvalds created the Linux kernel, inspired by the Minix operating system. An interesting fact is that Torvalds only wrote about 2% of the current Linux kernel himself. He invited the public to contribute code, which culminated in the success of the system. The invention is a testament to the success of free/open source software. Torvalds currently works as a coordinator of the Linux code contributed by volunteer programmers. He is very prominent among the white hats, to the extent of having an asteroid named after him and appearing in "60 Years of Heroes" by Time Magazine.Richard Stallman is a white hat hacker that is famous for the GNU Project. He founded the Project to develop a free operating system, and is therefore known as the father of free software. He did this on the principle that the computer world can grow and develop only by providing users with the ability to freely use, share, and modify software.

Today, many white hat hackers are hired by companies to investigate and modify the strength of their security systems. This type of activity is regarded as both legal and necessary. Although hacking is generally seen as a negative activity, deeper investigation reveals that this is not in fact the case. It is furthermore also encouraging to note that many former black hat hackers are now using their skills for the benefit of society. Nevertheless, negative hacking makes spectacular media material, as is evident in the many films on the subject.

Sources

Hackingalert.com. "History of Hacking." http://www.hackingalert.com/hacking-articles/history-of-hacking.php

Tippit, Inc. "Top Ten Most Famous Hackers of All Time." http://www.itsecurity.com/features/top-10-famous-hackers-042407/

Trigaux, Robert. "A History of Hacking." St. Petersburg Times. 2000. http://www.sptimes.com/Hackers/history.hacking.html.....