Ethicoin

This is a cryptocurrency for my ethics in science and tech project. There used to be a flaw in the internet. In the Domain Naming System, or DNS, there was a bug that would’ve allowed hackers to intercept emails, bypass password authentication and impersonate websites. Imagine if one day, all your information was stolen. Your credit card information, your address, your secrets. Now imagine if everyone’s information was stolen, all in one day. That’s what this bug allowed for. Luckily, a bug tester by the name of Dan Kaminsky found the bug and worked with the Department of Homeland security to remove it. Kaminsky was an expert bug finder who taught himself how to code in elementary school. At age 11, his mother got an angry call from the U.S. government: Kaminsky hacked into the U.S. government and was browsing military secrets (Internet Society, 2021). Many believe that Kaminsky was the greatest bug finder of all time. After finding the bug in the internet, he set his sights on a new technology that allowed for digital currency, spending months trying to crack it. According to the New Yorker, “He quickly identified nine ways to compromise the system and scoured code for an insertion point for his first attack. But when he found the right spot, there was a message waiting for him. ‘Attack Removed,’ it said” (Davis, 2011). Kaminsky, who found a flaw in the internet itself, couldn’t find a flaw in this new technology.