Government officials and politicians portray hackers as unstoppable for two main reasons. First, it helps them garner support for increased budgets to combat this growing evil. And second, it deflects attention away from their own incompetence at securing computers. This type of response just encourages more hacking. Security vendors sell the fear factor.
Some companies base entire advertising campaigns around the teenage hacker myth.
Sure, there are a small number of hackers who are extremely talented. Some even provide high-quality security services. But there are many more who lack the broad technical skills required for expert security analysis. If a hacker doesn't possess this broad knowledge base, the degree to which he or she is ethical is irrelevant. Security professionals who wave the ethics banner in the face of companies wanting to hire hackers miss this critical point.