Welcome to the Website, 34.229.63.28. What is your online identity? Today's Date: Friday, December 8th 2023.
Introduction
About Us
The Survey
The Results
Analysis
Persistence of Identities
New Identities
Internet Class
Conclusion
Internet Identities
New Internet Identities

     The internet facilitates the persistence of age old identities and stereotypes but it also allowed for the creation of many more stereotypes and identities. There are also different levels of each of these identities. One new identity is the warez kiddy or warez dude. Warez by definition is a term used by software pirates use to describe a cracked game or application that is made available to the Internet, usually via FTP or telnet; often the pirate will make use of a site with lax security. These individuals are known for downloading, trading, and distributing illegally cracked files. Another identity created by the internet is the e-whores. Internet whores (e-whores) are girls who broadcast themselves on web cams for everyone to see, engage in virtual sex, and will flirt with practically everyone. These individuals are looked down upon by the general population of the internet. A third identity created is the cracker. Crackers crack programs and gain unauthorized entry into various places by cracking something rather then hacking it. Cracking by definition is the act of breaking into a computer system; what a cracker does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does not usually involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, but rather persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems. Accordingly, most crackers are only mediocre hackers. Another term created by the internet is a hacker. A hacker can mean one of two things. The first definition of a hacker is being a computer enthusiast. The second definition is a microcomputer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems. Interestingly enough, all of these new classifications of people are available in addition to the typical stereotypes. These new internet social identifications, for the most part, have negative connotations affiliated with them. There are also different grades of these groups, especially cracker and hacker. A white hat hacker is also considered an ethnical hacker, a person who is apposed to breaking into computer systems. The term white hat hacker is also often used to describe those who attempt to break into systems or networks in order to help the owners of the system by making them aware of security flaws, or to perform some other altruistic activity. This is the most respected group of hackers to the general public. Following this group, come the grey hats or brown hats which describe someone on the borderline between black and white. These individuals sometimes do malicious hacking but oftentimes do white hat style hacking as well. This gray area is usually defined by the law of the area. Lastly there are the black hats which are malicious or criminal hackers. They hack for private gain and often blackmail the people that they hack. They contain their exploits so that security companies cannot patch the holes. They often have access to 0-Day exploits (or private exploits) that are not known to other security individuals. They are generally hated the most on the internet because of the destruction they wreak.

Newbies and Elites

     A broader categorization of the people on the internet is newbies and elites. A newbie is one that is new to something, especially a novice at using computer technology or the Internet. A newbie could also be a person who has experience but has no internet common sense and asks very stupid questions. Newbies often piss off elite people due to the fact that they ask such stupid questions. Elite people are those who might not have the greatest knowledge, but learn quickly and can absorb information on the internet. They are the best teachers but often form cliques that are reserved for elite people. In computer technology, elite is a term used to describe skilled crackers or hackers, or their deeds.

Internet Identities versus Actual Real Life Identities

     People often wonder and speculate if these internet identities often match up to their real life personas. For example, is an internet bully a bully in actual life? The answer is two-fold, as the mapping direction could go either way. The bully on the internet could be bullying people because he gets bullied in actual life, or the bully could be a bully in actual life who just continued his bullying online. Hackers online are many times those who do not like to do illegal things in life, and vent this buildup to perform illegal activities online. Again, just the reverse could be true. Many hackers are hardened criminals who have just gotten bored of committing crimes in the actual world and have moved to the internet.