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Hacker Group L0pht Making a Comeback

Posted by Soulskill on from the getting-the-band-back-together dept.

angry tapir writes "The news report begins with shots of a tense space shuttle launch. Engineers hunch over computer banks and techno music pounds in the background. There is a countdown, a lift-off, and then you see a young man in a black T-shirt and sunglasses, apparently reporting from 'space.' This is the Hacker News Network, and after a decade offline it is lifting off again, this time with a quirky brand of video reports about security. Hacker News Network is one of the side projects of the Boston-based hacker collective known as L0pht Heavy Industries. They're the guys who famously told the US Congress that they could take down the Internet in about 30 minutes, and who helped invent the way that security bugs are reported to computer companies."

6 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Are they relevant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What can a group of guys in Boston do that could rival Russian hackers?

    tea party?

  2. Re:Are they relevant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mate, Bostonians are what you get when you mix pirates and ninjas. Chuck Norris is scared of Boston. Last time they threw a Tea Party they instigated the overthrow of the largest empire in history! A few blokes from Boston are enough to wipe out the Third Reich, Mossad, Chuck Norris and the SBS all in an afternoon.

    Regards,
          Phil

  3. Pioneers of the glamourous geek lifestyle by Beefpatrol · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Those guys also were probably among the first to make it publically obvious that computer skills were not simply vehicles for the personal amusement of the socially inept. The press at the time always discussed how they had one apartment for themselves, and one next door for their gear. They made money being hackers, (in the old sense of the word -- not crackers.) I imagine that a substantial part of the sudden increase in society's respect for geeks, (maybe mostly their potential incomes,) was due to the glamorous press exposure l0pht received at that time. Perhaps Slashdot should thank them -- I'm not really sure. It will be interesting to see what this new l0pht is like.

    1. Re:Pioneers of the glamourous geek lifestyle by Beefpatrol · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You're right that computer skills became more in demand because computers became more entrenched in society. My main point was that geeks gained substantial social respect because the media published a bunch of stuff that glamorized geekdom. I didn't mean to imply that (social respect == ability to command more income). Geeks were already making money and their skills were already valuable. A lot of people didn't realize that at the time though. The prototype geeks the media used at the time were the l0pht guys. I think it mattered that they were independant -- they weren't working for a corporation or anything like that.

  4. Re:literature request by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The book The Best of 2600, a Hacker Odyssey is pretty good. http://www.amazon.com/Best-2600-Hacker-Odyssey/dp/0470294191 . And while it might not have the scope you are looking for on the groups themselves, it does seem to give mention to every major event in hacker history since 1984 when the magazine was published. Plus its pretty recent being published just in July of 08.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  5. Re:Are they relevant? by hedwards · · Score: 5, Funny

    Tea bagging?