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Mafia Tech Support
Mzilikazi writes "A story from Wired about performing tech support for the mob, mainly focusing on gambling. Some interesting information is presented about P2P applications. Frankly it sounds like fiction to me (you can already imagine the movie being made -- 'I Was a Hacker for The Mob'), but the story is interesting nonetheless and shows that if you're skilled and determined but have a flexible moral compass, there's a lot of job opportunities out there." I started reading it for the mob references, but kept on reading for the details of how to run an illegal gambling organization.
Isn't the first rule, don't talk? This coder is going to get whacked! I would have kept my mouth shut if made a proggie for the mob. If I had a ham sandwich with Tony Soprano, I wouldn't talk about it for chrissakes.
The author Simson Garfinkel could also get whacked because he knows the guy who talked.
Maybe it's too Hollywood, but would you even risk it? Would you? So maybe they didn't pay the guy enough? He says he makes 1/3 of $150k, but he likes living under the radar. That makes sense for about two seconds. I'd rather make $150k and keep it in my shoebox.
They aren't paying the guy enough, so he bragged about it to Wired, who published it.
The chain of stupidity doesn't stop there. Now the IRS is after this guy for tax evasion, and they can connect him to the writer of the story and the mob itself, meaning some mob boss at the top is shitting his pants right now -- if this is isn't total BS.
"But in the fog of all those poker games, I had neglected to take the humanities classes required for graduation. So I left without a degree and moved to New York City. My plan was to become a professional card player."
And now the FBI knows you by name.
First, eliminate all those incriminating little pieces of paper.
... paper rules for this stuff
as opposed to an electronic transaction that can easily be snoop(1)'d by uncle sam. encrypted or not
I realize Wired has always run a fine line between journalism and fiction in the past, but in recent yeas the magazine has gotten so bad that I'm seriously thinking of not renewing my subscription. Also, I enjoy seeing the mac covered, which many other publications ignore, but Wired has gone insane with the mac-centric stories. Sorry but just because Apple is somehow involved does not make a story newsworthy.
Furthermore...
This guy doesn't agree with transportation systems, freeways, his (probably) public education, the fact that he can call 911 when he falls asleep with a bottle of scotch and a cigarette in his hand and his carpet starts on fire, etc, etc...
I highly doubt this book is even a true story anyway, so I don't know why I'm thinking about it, but this is the classic example of the freeloader problem. An excuse to take advantage of the services provided by other taxpayers' money.
THE MAGIC WORDS ARE SQUEAMISH OSSIFRAGE
There have been many of these stories in the past few years. Mostly out of Vegas, yes. Seems there is a rather 'quiet' tech revolution going on, driven by tons of money and 'out of the box' needs.
:)
As an example, the taxi companies monitor each other's phones and poach clients needing a cab. Sounds simple, but the timing involved would put a shuttle launch to shame
Don't get me wrong....there's nothing glam about it. The crime/drug/prostitution/money laundering that masks the real victimization has zero redeeming status.
This should be AC but WTF ....
Here is what I would like to get published in the next issue of Wired ...
To see a world in a grain of sand, and then to step back and see the beach where the sand lies
Wired is famous for posting wildy exagerated fictional stories. It started with MicroSerfs in 1994(-5). They published this whole account of 8 Microsoft employees and their wild lives, and a few months later announced it was all a fictional story. Ever since then, I take everything they say with about 12 grains of salt.
Not to say that there *arent* computer geeks working for the mob, but this particular is probably pure fiction and completely exagerated.
despite the fact that this was written with such a fictionnal (and thus amusing) tone, and point of view (don't you think that it could have been a good introduction to a Casino-like movie ?), I have another concern about that kind of press release.
Such statements as "I'm a hacker for the mob and I'm proud of it" mix two differents things, that, even if they are well distinguished by the average geek population, might seem confusing, and maybe upseting, for the average non-geek population.
In a nutshell, this article will probably provide some more exposure for the 'bad, immoral, nasty hacker' character that is already wide-spread worldwide. If I'm not a /. reader and a willing-to-learn guy/girl (which is the case of many, many, many people around the globe), my first reaction will be to say : 'damn, those motherfuckers already put some viruses on my computer, now they're getting with the mob, ; kill'em'all, buddy, kill that fucking hacker'
By writing this, this guy wants to sail away from the hacker community ('yep guys, I fuck you deep, I earn 50000$ with my hacking skills'), AND from the whole mob, the true one. And this kind of behaviour had never resulted in something else that despise, anger, and fear from the uninformed people. Many people remain well uninformed about hackers at this time ; in my opinion, the hacker community shouldn't be labelled that way.
Because maybe at some point hackers will be hanged by the mob...
Regards,
Jdif
Let's overcome our weakness.
But he does condone the actions of the Mafia...?
And another thing: "$150,000 as a programmer on the open market. But I make a third of that. [...] When you start making a lot of money, you get noticed by the biggest bullies on the block - the cops and the IRS [...] Because I get paid entirely in cash, I don't fork over any taxes"
Tax is over 66% where he is? No wonder he hates the government...
I did a Lotus Notes job for a group of Italian Citizens, a club really.... encrypton seems to have been a HUGE concern. First ever PGP server. Do you know what 18,000USD looks like in paperbags?
This
I think that's the guy. He has mafia/card shark/donnie brasco admirer written all over him. In think he should be a writer. Make a "Catch me if you can" style movie with a Donnie Brasco type hacker. "..He started out doing mob steak outs..then he got cosy..eventually, he provided a multi-source secure voip and database solution for them, then he got a taste for all things Mafia.." Mandrake though good choice, I'm using Mndrk. 92 at the mo and I love it so far. However, for this kind of job I think I would use even more paranoid security, OpenBSD aughta do!! Anyways, the story is clearly false. No codenames, and too many clues - way too many. If it were true there would be some guy in the FBI raiding their joint right now.. ..Oh, maybe thats his plan: If he makes it seem unrealistic, the Feds would ignore the operation!!!
In any case it would be sloppy work, I don't believe it. Intersting read though. Thanks Wired!!
Way back when, when most /.'er were still in short pants, I went to a programming conference. Up in the lobby of the conference hotel was an ad for "Programmers wanted", come to room XXXX. I went up, and it was two guys in very nice suits, a lot of gold, discussing the plans they had for a computer system - in fact, it was the first time I had heard of the idea of off shore betting. Mind you, this is pre internet boom. They were planning on modem pools and dial up at that time.
It was fairly obvious from the job description, the fact that only first names were used, and the questions that were asked that the folks were the mob. I gave it a thought, and said, "Sir, it's an interesting concept, but I really have no interest in traveling off shore as the job would require. I wish you luck." Shook hands, and left. That was the last I heard of it, except to see what looked like one of the guys in the room doing the perp walk about 15 years later - Something about stolen cars
These guys were a bit higher tech than the folks in the wired article - they were talking N tier distributed architectues in the VERY early 80s
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
He's just rationalizing his choices.
Some people just prefer the crooked way, even though the straight way could even be easier.