Ethical hacking power (revised)

Throughout the semester I have learned and experienced a lot of things. The labs were super helpful and easy to follow and do. Also the use of backtrack and other programs was a great addition to the learning experience as I now know of what threats I should be concerned with and how to prevent them if I ever think about setting up a private network. The "experience" part was the social engineering tasks. I thought it was an interesting and fun idea that we were given tasks to perform secretly, almost like a mini game. I'll admit some of the tasks put me out of my comfort zone but that was the whole point of it and it really was a unique experience in the end. I may not have acquired any hacking powers but the moral responsibilities we were taught feel more like a privilege than a power. For example, although we have the knowledge of how to use the various exploits in our labs, that does not mean we can use them to our advantage whenever we please. We were given the opportunity to study and figure out how to defend against such exploits and that to me is what's more important. I feel like the moral responsibilities that came with this class is to protect ourselves and others when it comes to network security. Sure we can use what we learned to exploit others, but that's not part of our future goals in life (I hope). We are here mainly to secure and defend.

Overall I really enjoyed this class. I admit I wasn't much of a talker but the things we discussed in class gave me a lot of insight on how much we might miss out on as I.T people. For example, I know there's a lot of CLI involved in I.T departments and jobs and I've always tried to steer clear of it, but now I see how useful it can be for both right and wrong reasons. Also, I'm glad that this class had a mix of philosophy because I find it fascinating how the internet can be the greatest form of resource but it can also be your worst nightmare, and how many types of moral situations come into play when involved in I.T security. Most classes would just tell us the basics of how to set up a network and maintain it, but there's a lot of things going on in and out of the networks that leave us so vulnerable to attacks it makes me think twice about what I previously learned in other classes. I'm not an expert on using what we learned in class yet but over time, with a little bit of practice I can become better at handling this.

Going back to the original Spider-man quote "with great power there must also come--great responsibility" there's a lot of truth to this that can relate to our ethical hacking class. For instance, the skills and lectures we have received over the last few months have given us the basic knowledge of how to use certain exploits as well as preventing them. By doing so we now have an opportunity to choose whether to use these skills to defend against exploits or to use it to your advantage. It doesn't matter if we are beginners or pros, we have now been granted a power that can be used for good or evil. I guess my moral values come from being who I am. Being the oldest brother out of my siblings, I was raised to care for them while becoming strong and mature so that I could protect them. So I became a sort of "Mr. Nice Guy." This also made me develop sort of a "white-knight" complex where if I see something wrong happening, I'd go out of my way to help them. So for me, it would feel like a sin not to use the knowledge I've gained from this class, especially knowing that I could be out there preventing viruses or exploits from affecting millions of people. Or even spreading the word so that others can know how to prevent them. I've been dealing with broken/corrupted computers and laptops from friends and family so much that I had to give them detailed instructions on what to do and what not to do in certain situations as well as getting a darn anti-virus. The internet is almost like a completely different world that's constantly changing and always being invaded. A place where even the weakest man can have power over the strong. A place to share anything or everything about your life including others, private or public. With so many holes and exploits popping up all the time, we now have the ability to somehow protect that world. It's not only limited to the internet though. Whether it's your own home network or a company with millions, what we learned from this class was invaluable and I for one am glad I was able to take part in it.