hackers

i was in grade school when i first saw the movie hackers. our house didn't have internet then so i wasn't exactly familiar with what was going on in the movie so i didn't focus on the reality of spreading viruses and stealing info from other computers and stuff. i thought these things were fiction. what i remember though was that i wanted to be acid burn or zero cool and set off the sprinkler system in my school and get free cash from the ATM.

later on i realized that these things weren't actually cool and that the repercussions of these activities are severe. businesses shut down, web sites get vandalized, top secret security information are stolen, personal data get leaked on one hand while on the other, people get arrested and jailed.

in the philippines, i haven't heard of any government sites breached. this means either one of three things- 1) people aren't interested in the info our government has; 2) people in this country aren't capable of hacking (which i highly doubt); or 3) there is nothing to be hacked since our government is still in the paper and pen era. in any case, i guess it's a good thing that there aren't any cyber attacks here (that i know of at least) because we need to think that the internet is a safe place in order for us to start utilizing its potential.

*this is a comment on the recent hacking of US and South Korean government web sites