Zero Days The documentary Zero Days, directed by Charles Koppelman, studies computer exploits and cyber-espionage that are conducted over cyberspace. This 2015 documentary interviews multiple professional computer hackers to explain what hacking skills they rely on in order to conduct either legal or illegal activities across the web. Whereas the scholars in this discipline focus on studying the psychology of hackers along with their communication skills used to deceive users online. Through interviews with professional hackers, this documentary analyzes why hackers are dangerous while scholars study their behaviorism and non-technical skills. Zero Days …show more content…
The article Why Computer Talents Become Computer Hackers, by Xu Zhengchuan, gives a definition of what titles the “good” and “bad” hackers mean; “White hats are on a quest for knowledge, discovering and alerting security weaknesses in organizational systems and developing better, more secure computer systems; Black Hats go for revenge, sabotage, or outright criminal gain (such as to steal money, products, or services) (Zhengchuan 65).” Zero Days portrays these hackers as extremely dangerous individuals that work for their own profit. With these clear definitions, viewers can understand which of the two types of hackers are more dangerous. When interviewing subjects, the director never reveals to the viewer whether the hacker is White or Black Hat. This leaves the audience wondering which of the people they are looking at are criminals. These fears of the unknown plays into the vulnerability people feel when they are on the web. This …show more content…
But there are some scholars who argue differently that hackers must rely on both their telecommunication skills along with their technology knowledge to successfully cause harm. Michail Tsikerdekis, author of the article Online Deception in Social Media, argues that hackers employ the use of deception to gain access to another’s account. Tsikerdekis states, “In social media, deception can involve content, sender, and communication channel or all three together (Tsikerdekis 72).” While these sorts of attacks may rely on telecommunication skills, there are still methods of which people can work to protect themselves from being potential targets. Tsikerdekis mentions, “Training and raising awareness (such as might be taught to security personnel) could help protect users of social media (Tsikerdekis 72).” Tsikerdekis’ point serves to show the reader that hackers employ much more than just their technical skills. The scholar provides evidence to the readers that even on social media they must be aware of hackers impersonating someone and trying to trick them into giving up their personal