The hacker phenomenon keeps raising in my mind the question of whether or not hackers are a problem, or are hackers are a symptom of an intrinsic problem in this whole new technology. The security of the network, the universal accessibility of it and the democracy of it. It's important to understand that networks, like streets, like automobiles, are never going to be perfectly secure. But we then introduce people into that environment. And, you know, people break into houses.
People break into banks.
And I think we need to inculcate the same ethic into technology users. It's not okay to do things just because it's possible, just because we can. I hear that argument a lot, and I have to say that I think it's a very silly one. It seems to me that thanking hackers who violate the privacy of networks or network users for pointing out to us our vulnerabilities is a little bit like sending thank-you notes to burglars for pointing out the infirmity of our physical alarms. That's silly. . . .