[ISN] Hackers: the good, the bad, the ugly

From: mea culpa (jerichoat_private)
Date: Sat Sep 05 1998 - 08:10:35 PDT

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    [Moderator: More fine journalism. According to this article, you can only
     be in one of two categories if you are a hacker. This 'black and white'
     mentality shows a serious lack of understanding of human nature, not
     to mention hackers or anything else. Here is an excerpt from the
     article:
    
     "The hacker community is divided into two categories. The "white hat
     hackers" are those paid...
    
     The other group, known as "black hat hackers," are malicious: They break
     into networks illegally to steal bank account numbers or credit cards in
     order to make money. "]
    
    
    Forwarded From: darek milewski <darekmat_private>
    
    http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9809/03/t_t/hacker.subculture/
    
    
    Hackers: the good, the bad, the ugly
    September 3, 1998         
    Web posted at: 12:12 p.m.
    EDT (1612 GMT)
    
    LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- Computer hackers normally shun the spotlight, but many
    of them came out into the open for the recent Defcon convention in Las
    Vegas, offering outsiders a rare chance to glimpse their distinctive
    subculture. 
    
    While most of the year, hackers connect via modems and e-mail, here they
    met face-to-face. Fueled by cigarettes and caffeine, they huddled in
    groups around computers, swapped strategies, exchanged tactics and briefed
    each other on the latest technological developments.  No business clothes
    here. The standard apparel was T-shirts and shorts (and forget about those
    name tags saying "Hello, my name is ..."). Others opted for an
    in-your-face look: a spiky dog collar here, a punk hairdo there;
    miscellaneous pierced noses, tongues and other appendages. 
    
    "The staples, the stitches, they're meant to hurt,"  said one hacker. 
    
    Just as in cyberspace, the hackers are known only by their screennames;
    "Reverend Greed," "Despair," or "Opus," to cite a few. 
    
    They start early
    
    Most hackers start practicing their craft by tinkering as kids. 
    
    One hacker said he got his start at age 13, when he broke into a credit
    card database. 
    
    "I knew I shouldn't have been doing it. But I figured:  I'm under 15, I
    can't get in that much trouble, can I?"  he said. 
    
    The hacker community is divided into two categories. The "white hat
    hackers" are those paid by corporations and the federal government to
    legally break into systems to find vulnerabilities in computer software
    and then fix the flaws. 
    
    The other group, known as "black hat hackers," are malicious: They break
    into networks illegally to steal bank account numbers or credit cards in
    order to make money. 
    
    Chasing thrills
    
    Many hackers say they do break-ins because it's addictive, a thrill -- and
    one feels the "power at the fingertips."  "It's so many things at the same
    time: you want the knowledge, you want the power -- you just want to be
    there. You don't want to miss out," one of the few women hackers said of
    her experience. 
    
    A hacker's idea of having a good time is a race to see which team can be
    first to break into a computer network.  The winning team gets a cash
    prize. 
    
    "We own every one of these machines. It's on our network, not the
    Internet. So this is completely legal," said one convention-goer. 
    
    >From outcasts to experts
    
    Even though they were once considered outcasts, many hackers now hold
    critical and high-paying jobs with corporations and governments. 
    
    One group of hackers, called Lopht, even appeared before Congress recently
    to explain flaws in computer security. 
    
    "It was actually a pretty monumental step forward to see the Senate and
    large legislative groups almost embracing hackers and saying: 'Hey, you
    guys have something that you're actually bringing to the table,'" said Dr.
    Mudge, a member of the group. 
    
      Correspondent Ann Kellan contributed to this report.
    
    
    -o-
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