http://www.forbes.com/penenberg/ Hacking hackers Adam L. Penenberg 3/1/99 YOU'RE HOME WORKING on your computer, gulping down Mountain Dew and fiddling with code. You're interrupted by a knock at your door. "Open up," someone yells. "FBI." You would think this would be a hacker's worst nightmare. But according to Jennifer Granick, an attorney in San Francisco who has handled a number of hacker and Internet kiddie porn cases, it's more of a hacker's dream. "Many hackers like it when the Feds think their skills are worthy of attention," says the 29-year-old Granick, a graduate of Hastings Law School. "They immediately go from 'newbie' to 'elite,' and this gives them the cachet they need to land those $100-an-hour computer security jobs." The FBI often relies on hackers for technical knowledge and details about the culture, but this information is frequently tainted by the informants' lack of skill, or by personal grudges against other hackers. Unfortunately, the computer skills of many of the agents who are given the task of investigating computer break-ins are often woefully inadequate. So even if FBI agents obtain a search warrant, and confiscate your computer equipment because you're under suspicion of having committed a cybercrime, that doesn't mean you're an elite hacker, or even that you broke the law. You could be innocent. Or guilty. Or framed by another hacker. Or a "script kiddie"--someone who uses off-the-net hacking software--and still have the Feds convinced you're a major threat to public safety. This is what happened with Ehud Tennebaum, "Analyzer," the Israeli teen who hacked the Pentagon with some pretty lame and outdated exploits. Nonetheless, her worshipfulness, Janet Reno made him an international star. [snip...] -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Internet Security Institute [www.isi-sec.com]
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