In a nutshell, please abide your native ethics
It is difficult to speak about a specific moral decay within the hacker community as a whole, as the hacker community is a diverse group with a wide range of values and beliefs. Community culture has shifted.
However, it is possible that the involvement of companies and former military trained individuals focus on profit and commercial gain.
These formally trained individuals are a separate culture within the hacker community and may lead some individuals to prioritize these goals over the principles that traditionally have been important within the hacker community, such as the pursuit of knowledge and the desire to challenge and improve upon existing systems. Additionally, the involvement of hackers in activities that may be considered unethical or illegal, such as the sale of wiretapping equipment or the “hacking back,” could also be seen as contributing to a moral decay within the community.
Hacking back, also known as active defense or offensive cyber response, refers to the practice of using computer systems to identify and attack the source of a cyber attack. This can involve a variety of tactics, such as locating and disabling the infrastructure being used to launch the attack, or attempting to compromise the systems of the attackers themselves.
Hacking back is a controversial practice, as it involves the intentional compromise of other computer systems and can potentially lead to legal and ethical issues. In many jurisdictions, hacking back is illegal and could result in criminal charges being filed against those who engage in this practice. Additionally, hacking back carries the risk of misattribution, where the wrong party is targeted in response to an attack, and can escalate a cyber conflict. Because of these risks, many experts caution against hacking back and advocate for more traditional forms of cyber defense.
