Blog 2

There were a number of topics that I found interesting from the readings assigned in weeks 5 through 8. Chapter 6 discusses the idea that hackers actually perform a useful service for society by searching for and exposing security holes. I thought that this was an interesting way to look at the issue of hacking. I feel like it is just looking at an issue positively, by identifying the benefits that can come out of a bad situation. However, like spafford, I don’t think that the idea justifies hacking in any way. You can find something positive out of almost any negative situation, but that still doesn’t make the negative situation right.

I also thought it was interesting to read about whistle-blowing. This is a term that I have never heard before but someone I know very well was involved in a situation that could be considered whistle-blowing.  During one of his previous employments, he was confident that his employer was doing something illegal and, in an attempt to prove this, he made photocopies of another employee’s time card. When his boss discovered this, he was fired. Should he not have gone behind his employers back to collect evidence that would get ultimately get his employer in trouble? Or an even better question would be, since he was trying to collect evidence of an illegal act, does this justify his act of copying another employees time card? It was an interesting situation, and it was hard for me to determine whether his actions were wrong or right.