The Growing Culture of Peeping Coms

By K.S.Chow

Introduction

With the development and advancement of modern scientific technology, there arise two categories of miscreant peepers. They are the peeping toms and peeping coms. A peeping tom is usually a man who likes watching a female secretly taking off their clothes in the bed rooms or bathrooms by installing micro-cameras at concealed locations not easily visible by people. Currently,there arise modern types of peeping toms who intrude secretly into the privacies of others. The second category of peeping toms is known as peeing coms.  A peeping com is one who hacks into the information technology or computer systems or networks of others either to enjoy knowing the privacies of others or to steal some private information of others. Such activities are growing rampant probably because of the increasing insecurity of the currently troubled world.

Categories of Hackers

There are basically three categories of hackers or peeping coms in the cyber world. They are devastating hackers, preemptive hackers and patriotic hackers. The devastating hackers are professional cyber infiltrators or attackers.
The devastating hackers are considered the transgressors of the Gotama Buddha’s second moral injunction of the Five Precepts (Pañcasīlas): Restraint from taking what is not given or committing thefts. It is still a transgression even though its defensive purpose may be wholesome or justified. The civilized world does not accept the norm of a thief or robber who has stolen or robbed from others in order to help the needy. Likewise, we too do not accept the norm that a poor university female student finances her own tertiary education through secret involvement in prostitutions. Ethics is foremost and above everything. Ethical perversion will cause moral decay and chaos in human society. Morality can not be sacrificed for a personal gain. It bleaches the 5th item of the Buddhist Noble Eight Fold Path – Right Livelihood and the third moral injunction of the Buddhist Five Precepts – Refrain from improper sexual relations.

Nevertheless, positively visioned, the devastating  hackers do play a role in defending their own countries by destroying the military computerized capacity or capability of the potential enemies. In the sense of internal security, it is also a preemptive measure to protect the internal stability and peace of a country.

The preemptive hackers, having penetrated the into the military strategies of the potential enemies, set up their own cyber strategy to defend their countries. Of course, the defensive hackers have too violated the Pañcasīlas. Anyway,the weightage or severity of their unwholesome kammas are not as grave as those of the devastating  hackers. They could be the military personnel of their own country’s ministry of defence. If we were to understand the human fallibilities and the culture of immoral penetration into the privacies of others, this category of hackers could not really be blamed. The rationale is that the security of any country is of paramount importance and must be defended at all costs by her patriotic, technologically skilled citizens. When a war is declared between two nations, the soldiers from both nations are forced to defend their motherlands and sovereignty. They are compelled to kill one another. This is the sole reason that wars are to be avoided at all costs. In Buddhist sense, the destruction of lives is a very grave offence. It is positioned as the foremost moral injunction of the Buddha – non-violence. In this modern advanced era of nuclear power, it is the most urgent not to transgress this first precept of the moral injunction of the Buddha. A nuclear warfare can be initiated easily with only a convenient press on the button with the command from a president or prime minister. A thought moment of political or military insanity, caused by the intense grasping of the five aggregates, is a sufficient force to press the button in a comfortable air-conditioned premise.

The patriotic hackers are known as technopatriots. The utilize cyber technology to promote their spirits of patriotism. The activities of these hackers are neither instructed by their own governments nor their identities are known by their own governments. They attack the computer networks of other countries because they are patriotic and royal to defend their own countries without being invited or encouraged officially to do so. They express their patriotism through technology secretly. These hackers strike the technological information systems of the ministries and government offices of enemies when they perceive that their own countries’ interests or reputations have been injured. They resort to cyber strikes to retaliate or to get even with the unfriendly countries or enemies. The intention is to cripple the government cyber machinery of the targets of strike. These cyber strikes occur whenever there arise political, economic, military or diplomatic tensions between two technologically advanced countries. The strikers usually consist of the ordinary citizens of both countries whose identities are unknown even by their own governments or the authorities.

I personally opine that cyber attacks are more civilized than the suicide or terrorists’ bombings or the declaration of large-scale wars  utilizing weapons of mass destruction against the enemies. Suicide attacks have become increasing frequent in our modern civilizations due to so called clash of civilizations. They have undermined world peace and harmony. Their frequencies are increasingly alarming !

Of course, as a genuine Buddhist who loves tranquility, peace, friendship, harmony and happiness, I advocate peaceful negotiations to resolve or settle all disputes amicably. Confrontations are usually concluded with both sides suffering from uncontrollable damages or devastations in human lives or structures in one way or another. Confrontations result in a lose-lose situation devastating to the interests of both sides. A confrontation is a deluded clash of two egoes rooted in either greed or hatred or both, the two serious catalysts of vices or vengeances. Greed and hatred are unwholesome, destructive emotions resulted from the grasping upon the five aggregates. Grasping, resulting attachment and aversion, is the central theme in Buddhist philosophy. It is the root of vexation, suffering or anguish.

Among the patriotic hackers, they may be only ordinary curious peeping coms assailing the private files of others in order to penetrate into the privacies of others. They explore secretly the confidential information from files without any evil motive. They may be verifying their cyber skills or technological competence of being able to penetrate into the world of the privacies of others. Some of the hackers may be technologically advanced and skilled. They send a legitimate e-mail to you. When you open the e-mail, it automatically installs a hidden software that allows hackers to open files or disrupt its contents. They can annihilate the network itself in order to eliminate the cyber service.

Conclusion

From the perspective of Ambalaṭṭhika Rāhulovāda-sutta (MN61), all activities of hackers are prohibited because the activities are unfriendly or even harmful to those victims of destructive cyber attacks or unfriendly cyber penetration. But I personally opine if the cyber strategy is motivated by a wholesome cause, which could bring permanent peace and tranquility to the world with the minimum harms, hacking to destroy military capabilities could serve as a good alternative to the repeated suicide bombings or attacks and weapons of mass destruction, such as the nuclear capabilities of an unfriendly country - an axis of evils. Suicide bombings or attacks, strategized by terrorists and the declaration of large scale wars, have proved to be uneconomical, cruel, uncivilized and very destructive, in comparison with cyber strikes. The positive dimension of cyber wars is that the onslaught on human lives are avoided – there are no mass killing of human beings. Spiritually speaking, every human life, with a latent treasure of intrinsic divinity called Buddhahood or Godhood and a relatively more developed mind than other living beings, is the most precious of all sentient beings. The retribution for transgressing the Buddhist non-killing precept is the future rebirth into the world of Hell. A killer loses everything in this present life as well as in the next life !

On top of these workable solutions, the most excellent and praise-worthy means is still the religious wisdom of discerning  the universal brotherhood of humanity. Spiritual wisdom brings forth the innate divinity or supreme wisdom in surmounting human conflicts amicably without plunging into the realm of hell beings after demise. The Universal love of brotherhood is still the highest ideal or highest good. If we treat everyone as our brother or sister, we could be more tolerant, respectful, empathic, and more ready to give in or sacrifice in order not to break the brotherly or sisterly relationship.

All esoteric religions unveils the Truth of Unity. All human species are interdependent and interrelated in one way or another and also with other living and non-living things. Discerning of the Truth of Unity eliminates enmities, human disunity and disharmony. One’s religious faith is always the foremost shock-absorber, pacifier or appeaser. This spiritual power can be drawn from the Centre of human heart – the inner peace of Man. It the source of great benevolence and altruism manifested when one wills selflessly. Do not kill the inner conscience of Man – the most valuable insurance of peace and harmony. Ordinary worldlings find that it is extremely difficult or sometimes almost impossible to tolerate to the utmost or not to retaliate as a preemptive measure to preserve justice. This is easily and evidently comprehensible: When a potential evil doer makes a 100 % grasp upon his or her five aggregates, he or she has almost gone insane and is uncontrollable. That, crimes of murders and rapes and others are rampant today, is due to the fact that religious commands are not heeded and even ignored. Spirituality is sacrificed for the sake of secular development and progress. The strength of grasping upon the five aggregates is directly proportional to the power of will driven by illusive self or ego superimposed by ignorance and perversions. Human beings must return to esoteric religions to liberate themselves from suffering and to regain their intrinsic supremacies and intrinsic happiness. The saints of all esoteric religions concur and promulgate that lasting happiness is one’s innate treasure and potential. It can be rediscovered through self-realization or development of wisdom of spiritual insight. The missing miserable son has been separated from his wealthy, warm, loving father for a long long time. He just needs to seek his beloved father again and returns to the embrace of his father ! The father has been awaiting for him for a long long time and has been eager  to see the missing son again. The innate happiness and inner peace will be redeemed  when they meet again.