R&S: What is your opinion of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Insitute)?

Stephen Hawking believes it should be dismantled, as he warns that if we do intercept the messages and radio signals of an alien species, they won't be too friendly about that and might view Earth as a potential threat to their dominance of the galaxy. Even though it is privately funded, shouldn't it be dismantled because it does place the entire human species at the risk of extinction if aliens were to know of our existence here on Earth?