As you are probably aware, I'm an IT student who likes to test the waters when it comes to technology policies at my school. Recently, this has been by setting up a secure shell server on my recently built linux server.
Today, I tried to access my server, but I couldn't connect. It turns out that my DNS entry had been erased due to inactivity, but I thought that I had been blocked from the port I needed to access that feature.
So after class I asked my teacher if she thought that there was a chance the central administration blocked access to port 22. She said it was possible but unlikely. Then she mentioned that if they had that neither of us should inquire about it because I could be banned from their network and she could lose her job, even though I have no malicious intent whatsoever. I have tools that could be viewed as malicious because I use them as tools of study, to be honest. Cain, for instance, has password cracking and a wireless network interception functions built into it, but I use them to the fullest legal extent: only on my own systems and/or networks. I also possess the tools to turn my Sandisk Cruzer Micro into a "box-pwn-er" by overwriting the U3 partition. I have these tools because they are a means to learn about the malicious people out there.
This brought the discussion to the "black-hats and white-hats" debate. As I obviously pointed out, I have tools that are developed by "black-hat" hackers. However, I use these tools to examine their workings, from the "white-hat" hacker point of view. I may not actually be a hacker, but attempting to understand why a certain exploit is effective now would help as to understanding information assurance more completely when I get to study it in college.
The end-all-be-all of this comes down to my philosophy on my life: For whatever reason, I was put on this earth. While I may not exactly like it, I might as well try to make the best of it since I'm in it for the long haul. Thus when it comes to choosing to be malicious or benevolent in the field of IT, I personally choose that I am, in fact, a member of the "good guys".
