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Beto O'Rourke's Secret Membership in America's Oldest Hacking Group (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

One thing you might not know about Beto O'Rourke, the former Texas congressman who just entered the race for president is that while a teenager, O'Rourke acknowledged in an exclusive interview to Reuters, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history. From the report: The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft's Windows. It's also known for inventing the word "hacktivism" to describe human-rights-driven security work.

Members of the group have protected O'Rourke's secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability. Now, in a series of interviews, CDC members have acknowledged O'Rourke as one of their own. Slashdot interviewed members of the Cult of the Cow in 1999 -- which gave bizarre answers.

4 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. Not a Republican by Kohath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If he was a Republican, you'd be hearing:

    - He's the son of a judge
    - Went to boarding school
    - Dodged burglary and DUI charges
    - He married into a Billionaire family

    But he's a Democrat, so nothing matters. Different standards. It's so important that he be judged by different standards the media won't even give you the information you need to make any other judgement.

    1. Re:Not a Republican by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      1. This is literally an article about how he was a hacker - something that Slashdot may respect but most of America thinks equals criminal.
      2. What are you talking about, all of those things are not only well-reported, they're well-reported AND well-whined about by Republicans that they're not well-reported.
      3. Different standards, right, which is why Beto has had overwhelmingly negative press coverage.
      4. Seriously, try to think beyond your partisan prejudices. You've got a narrative, and you're letting it control the things you see and hear.

  2. Re:He would get my vote (fist post?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What has Beto done in his life that makes him worthy of being president? He was a rich prep-school kid who started a failed rock band, did drugs, got arrested, married a rich wife, and failed at everything he tried .... until politics. And then he lost the vote.

    Who is this guy and remind me why I should care about him?

  3. Big plus from my viewpoint by zuki · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally someone who might get technology. On that alone, I'd give him a chance FFS... instead of being stuck with the pontificating tribe elders who only see a 'series-of-tubes'.