Final Ethics Post-Power and Skills

What sorts of moral responsibilities come with the hacking powers you have acquired this semester?  Be specific and precise!  

When it comes to the tools and skills learned in this course, the moral responsibilities is to the betterment of a community as a whole. In regards to ethical hacking, one must respect the laws that are in place when paid to perform a penetration test for a company. Ethical hackers are employed as penetration testers, network analysts and intrusion analysts. These individuals have the skills and the knowledge that other have but the difference is they work for a common good for the betterment of people or society. In contrast, hackers and criminals work to take advantage of exploits and security issues in order to cause monetary damage or earn financial gain. 

“With great power there must also come--great responsibility!”

What powers have you acquired?  What responsibilities do you take on with those powers?

One thing that reminds me of this quote is something I heard on one of my favorite shows. While watching Bill Maher he stated that the “only thing that stops bad guys with nukes is good guys with nukes.” This concept is applicable to someone who owns a firearm. When you have power that can affect others in a negative or positive way it takes great responsibility, good morals, practical ethical standards and a cause for the greater good to sustain that power. Through the skills taught in this course from the various aspects of ethical dilemmas and the tools such as DDOS attacks, stealing data without leaving traces, social engineering games and tasks, SQL and malware injection and other hacking tools; it takes someone who has great morals and a common cause for the greater good to harness these skills and put them to good use. Technology exists to make our life easier and advance our way of living. It is not a means to spy on people who are innocent, cause malice to others or businesses or other malicious behavior. One example is my opinion is how Edward Snowden expose the NSA and the various programs they had in place that were a direct violation of peoples rights and the constitution. When someone is employed for a specific job they take pride and passion in performing this duty, if the duty at hand does not align with their morals then it is their decision to make a call and decide what to do. I might make statements or reference things that seem extreme is some cases but there is a reason why I choose to do so. We do not live in a perfect world and everyone does not desire the same things. You have to expose the truth no matter how unpopular or harsh it might be. It takes a good guy with a gun (and balls) to stop a bad guy with a gun. Nine times out of ten, if the bad guy knows there is a good guy with a gun it would prevent the crime from occurring. The cause for a greater good should be the responsibility of a penetration tester. Using the skills learned in this course to help prevent the next DDOS attack, virus infection, or TJX exploit should be a part of your core responsibilities.