How Crackers View Themselves

prostoalex writes "Dr. Orly Turgeman Goldschmidt from Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted a research to figure out if there any any differences between the classic computer vandal stereotypes and the real life. After surveying 54 Israeli repondents and using the term hacker gratuitously, Goldshmidt found out many computer vandals to be "young, well-educated men without a criminal record, who belong to the middle or upper class." 3 out of 54 respondents were women, some of the respondents were married and had children. Goldschmidt's survey seemed to include somewhat low-life representatives of computer security community, the type who goes on shopping sprees on stolen credit cards, so take the findings with a grain of salt."

Comments

Re:Our crackers are better than your crackers

[Anonymous Coward]

Jews are superior

I'm not.

Do we need this ?

[jdifool]

Do we really need this ? Don't we all already know that hackers are, and will remain the fucking martyrs of the computer field ?

At first sight, I was quite rejoiced : it is so rare to see 'cracker' instead of 'hacker'. And then, pssshhhh, vanished are the hopes.

We've all been reading plenty of stuff like that before, but this article put some other sneaky insight.

• Did you notice, first, how the martyr theme was well represented ? (okok offtopic)
• The main thing is that, by now, the average hacker is a sympathetic guy. He has children , he is not obese, he is not illiterate, ie he is not a bear. Even though the bear cliche was quite tough, there is another threat here. The pattern of evil hidden behind respectable appearances is made shallower and shallower as the article goes on. The author almost finish by an breaking point like : beware, the hackers can be everywhere. A truly scary incitation to irrational fear. Again, this is strange this has been written in Israel (offtopic !).
• Secondly, the hacker seems to be granted by the state departments a holy grace that makes the average citizen think : 'how the bad hacker, full of revenge, which is at last spared by the authorities'. Truly pathetic : maybe only there hackers are granted such a favorized treatment. Who knows ?
• And, eventually, the deja-vu pattern of for the most part, Ashkenazim, secular, leftist hacker. BTW, do you think that there is still leftists in Israel (offtopic, but so true !) ?

Regards,
Jdif

Re:Was frightened?

[strike2867]

Dont expect much from people doing a PhD thesis, or have a PhD in general. My Intel Assembly Prog prof is a complete dumb ass. The class had to teach him how to use the "find" command in the middle of his lecture. His reviews from PickaProf.com:

He Really didn't care about what he was teaching. It reflects a lot on the attitude of the students. Although his class is doable, I would suggest listening to any hints he gives and just studying from the book. If you can take another teacher, than go for it. Roppo needs to stick to something he actually enjoys teaching. - 07/05/2002 ECE 392 GeniusII I feel sorry for him. He doesn't know what he's doing. He only knows how to talk. Seriously he is an ME major. He got his phd in mechanical, and he should teach that, not ECE classes. I've had him for three classes, and learnt nothing. If you can stay far away from him. - 11/15/2001 raccoon Not quite as bad as people say, but still pretty bad. Very tough grader so be forwarned. However his classes ARE passable if you study, and you might even learn a little bit about assembly language. If you are a gambler who wants to graduate on time then take Roppo and stick it out. I promise he won't fail you. Trust me :) - 12/04/2001 p86 Strengths There's really not much to say here for strengths, other than the fact that he actually comes to the class. However, he does know what he's teaching. He speaks English well. Drawbacks He knows what he's teaching, he doesn't know how to teach, and he gives too much material at a time. Roppo is one of the worst professors I have ever had. Several times when I was in his office, I would try to ask questions and he would interrupt me and assume he knew what I was going to ask. And it was not what I was going to ask. If you take a Roppo class, that should be the only class in the semester you take. So don't take him, it's not a smart move. - 07/25/2003 PinkPool Drawbacks Roppo is the worst teacher I have ever had. He has no respect towards his students or his TA's. He really doesn't care if his students learn while enrolled in his course. I'm surprised he's still teaching because that is obviously not his passion! I strongly suggest that if you are planning to take a class which Roppo is teaching, DON'T, because it will be a waste of your time and money. We as students pay to get a good education and attend classes because we want to learn and better our knowledge; we deserve to have teachers who respect their students and not teachers who demean them. We deserve to have teachers who actually have the passion to teach a subject they love, and roppo is not one of those teachers. - 11/24/2003 kingced Strengths no strength.s half the time students get lost in the material. As if reading the text isn't hell enough. Has no explainatory skills concerning ece Drawbacks Never take him if you wanna learn something. I wouldn't recommend taking his class ever. - 11/21/2003

So its not just me.

Re:If this is not the first post...

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, I didn't know that girls also post in slashdot ...

Not only that, they're actively going after FP as well!