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Want a Security Pro? Get Politically Incorrect and Learn Geek Culture

Posted by samzenpus on from the fight-trolls-with-trolls dept.

coondoggie writes "While complaints can be heard far and wide that it's hard to find the right IT security experts to defend the nation's cyberspace, the real problem in hiring security professionals is the roadblocks put up by lawyers and human resources personnel and a complete lack of understanding of geek culture, says security consultant Winn Schwartau. Take Janet Napolitano, U.S. secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, who has said the country can't find the right people for network defense. The real problem is a misunderstanding of computer geeks, their personalities, habits and their backgrounds, said Schwartau today during his talk at the Hacker Halted information security conference."

4 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. My mother's basement is well defended by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    My mother's basement is well defended !!!!!!!

  2. A true hacker .. by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny
    • Doesn't have time for Firefly or Star Trek.
    • Doesn't even watch TV
    • Doesn't hang around on news websites.
    • Doesn't get out much, if at all
    • Is relentlessly picking apart code, oprating systems, APIs looking for a small clue of some exception not being handled
    • Probably eats poorly, has no fashion sense and has the social skills of a slug
    • Will eventually find a way through whatever the problem is through persistence.
    • Will celebrate his/her find with a pumped fist (the most exercise in a week) and the utterance, "cool."

    While not terribly talented and hardly the sort of person likely to hold down a decent paying job (let alone know how to write out a resume or pass an interview) these are the sort of people who find the gaps. Recruiting them to work for you may be iffy. Once they have a paycheck, can afford a sports car, some decent clothes and can afford to go out they slowly cease to be the people you wanted.

    Best to just hire them on a per item contract and toss them a burrito now and then.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. The only thing I got out of this... by pnot · · Score: 3, Funny

    was confirmation of my opinion that "political correctness" now means "any kind of attitude or phenomenon that I don't like, but I can't be bothered to articulate a proper argument against". A bit like "inappropriate", really.

  4. your beloved Greek nation is bankrupt by Mister+Liberty · · Score: 4, Funny

    And so are you, and oh -- by the way -- your keyboard-'R' is unreliable.