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Hackers To School Next Generation At DEFCON Kids

Posted by Soulskill on from the first-sploit-is-free dept.

fangmcgee writes "DEFCON hackers will share their skills with the next generation at a first-ever children's version of the infamous gathering of software renegades, lock pickers and social engineers. A hacker conference for children is controversial even in the DEFCON community. Prime targets for criticism include lock picking and social engineering, the art of manipulating people into revealing sensitive information. 'Everyone is up in arms that we are going to teach kids to be evil, but that is not the case,' said Chris Hadnagy, who trains companies to guard against slick-talking hackers and runs the website social-engineer.org. 'Think critically, think objectively — that is what this industry teaches people,' continued Hadnagy, a DEFCON Kids mentor. "

3 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. To catch a crook... by MaxToTheMax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Teaching these kids the fundamentals of social engineering will help them recognize it and avoid being victimized by it. I think this is a really great idea.

  2. Hmmm ... by gstoddart · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Part of the problem with this is that you might be teaching it to people who don't have the emotional maturity to truly gauge the difference between right and wrong ... don't most teenagers test as sociopaths in personality tests?

    You're doing a lot more than simply teaching them to think critically and objectively ... you're teaching them to do things which range from shady to illegal, and they might not fully grasp that.

    I'm not sure a 14 year old needs lock-picking skills. Though, I'm sure some hilarity could ensue.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Hmmm ... by ThinkWeak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think this might allow those that are curious to ask questions in an open forum surrounded by like-minded individuals instead of secretly trying to do things that could result in some stiff punishment. Gone are the days where one was allowed to:

      1.) "being curious" about trying to connect to a business' modem to see what happens

      or
      2.) Mixing up a cocktail from anarchist's cookbook

      Now, they are acts of terrorism. In the past, 15 years or more ago, you could get away with these things and continue learning. I wouldn't try half the stuff I did back in the day for fear of being locked up or visited.

      Of course these kids are going to try some of the things from the conference, just teach them which ones will have the stiffest penalties.