Should You Hire a Hacker?

fabioj writes "Business Week has an article about today's debate at the RSA Security Conference held at the Moscone Center attended by Kevin Mitnick and his 1995 trial prosecutor, Christopher Painter. Interesting to note that Painter doesn't see Kevin Mitnick's experiences as a deterrent for the 'up-and-coming technology workforce' to criminally hack."

Comments

catch me if you can

[SethJohnson]

I don't think Mitnick is such a good representative for this issue. Probably a better example of 'hacker' turned security expert is that guy who the 'Catch me if You Can' movie is based on ( Frank Abgnale). The FBI sprung him from jail in order for him to help them combat check fraud. Apparently, he's now responsible for designing many of the anti-counterfitting mechanisms built into our checks even today.

I agree with the DOJ

[teamhasnoi]

in no way should anyone with a record of, say, working at a company known for flagrant privacy violation, ever in a million years have a job at the Dept. of Homeland Security as...hmmm, how about Privacy Czar.

Just like no one who went AWOL should be Commander in Chief, and the head of a giant energy corporation who mismangaged and defrauded it out of zillions of dollars should serve on a energy 'task force' behind closed doors, and a convicted monopolist should be able to expand their business to the very department of Justice that looked the other way.

Oh.

I guess what I meant to say is Christopher Painter must be a dumbfuck.

Thank you! I'll be here all week!(or at least until the Privacy Czar's Storm Troopers come to put a transmitter in my ass...)

Re:Both sides of the story

[teamhasnoi]

And a convicted (now reformed) pedophile might know a lot about taking care of kids. I still wouldn't hire them to run daycare.

What!? And miss out on that one-on-one attention?

Let it be known across the lands that this man has said loudly what we all have feared! Hacking is like having sex with kids! Beware! Begone!

In the movies...

[1nhuman]

I don't understand this discussion. A lot of movies and TV-series have already proven that using a former criminal is the only (cool) way to go if you really mean business?

Re:What's the issue?

[kinnell]

Will you hire a convicted rapist as a bodyguard for your daughter?

A convicted rapist is unlikely to make a good bodyguard for my daughter. An axe murderer who is known to be overly protective of women might, however.

Re:A criminal is a criminal

[abulafia]

Gotta love the anonymous coward who had a problem with it supporting someone who doesn't want anonymous communications.

Rant Redux

[limekiller4]

I don't know if I should hire a hacker but I do know that Slashdot should hire a copy editor.

Re:Rant Redux

[SmartGamer]

I think they do. It seems that all the articles are copied from yesterday.

Wha? Repeat?

[Anonymous Coward]

Either this is the same story from earlier today.. or I'm like that dude who made all that cash in the stock market

Repeat

[dannyweb]

What makes the whole repeat-ness of this story even worse is that there is a vote about it up right now!

Not really a repeat... but kinda

[poppen_fresh]

This isn't a repeat of the earlier /. post. That one linked to security focus and this one links to business week. But the business week article is just a reprint of the security focus article...

Re:Morality, is it absolute?

[Anonymous Coward]

They'll have a hard enough time finding a job with a criminal record, at least they should be able to get jobs in areas where they've proven themselves competent.

Competent? They got caught...

Ethical Dilemma

[DASHSL0T]

If I re-post all the +5 comments on this issue from the previous article, am I more or less honest than a convicted cracker? And if it works, and my karma goes through the roof, can I ever be reformed from karma-whoring or will I forver be branded the cut-and-paste king?

Re:dupe

[bsharitt]

Shut up, I missed it the first time!

Sounds Like He is Management Material

[yintercept]

I for one as a honest person am tired of hearing about this frickin criminal! Yes! Criminal!

Sounds like this Mitnick guy is management material. Criminal action shows initiative. It shows that he will do what it takes to get ahead.

Most of our society looks at the criminal as a superior form of being not tied to the conventionalities of the honest man (ie peasant). But there is a big problem with that getting caught thing. If he was a criminal who hadn't been caught...well, there is there is no end to how far he could go in the American corporate structure.

Who knows, he could have been CEO? I suspect most CEOs have done far worse things than Kevin Mittnick on their back stabbing drives for power. Unfortunately, there is a gentleman's agreement on being caught, tried and covicted.

Hiring a felon might get people looking closer at what companies actually do, and how the insiders funnel off profits. It would be far too risky to hire the man.

Dupe of Earl

[Anonymous Coward]

Dupe Dupe Dupe
Dupe of Earl
Dupe Dupe
Dupe of Earl
Dupe Dupe
Dupe of Earl
Dupe Dupe

whe-en I-eee waaaalk though this world
nothin can stop me, I'm the Dupe
I walk free-eely in my Dupedom
Cause nothin' can stop me, I'm the dupe of earl.

Maybe it's not a dupe, maybe it's a Poll Collision?

Personally, I like dupes... things should be considered more than once. Two closely spaced conversation reveal another dimension, the dimension of time, the fluctuflowations of the think.

But then, that's because,

I'm the Dupe of Earl
And you-uuu will be the Duchess in my Dupedome,
And nothing will stop us, from duuupin' agaaaain.

Re:Morality, is it absolute?

[Master Bait]

Bad news if the RIAA hired Mitnick to bullet-proof their website.

Imagine the meetings!

[RighteousFunby]

Hacker: My s00p3r 3l33t h4X0r 50lu710N w1ll 5yn3rg15e ur bu51n3s5 t0 500p3r 31337 5t4nd4rd5!!!

Suit: Er...what?