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Forbes Takes on AntiOnline
infojack writes to us with the the word that Forbes is running a story on AntiOnline.
It's a op-ed piece by Adam Penenberg, talking about the creds of John Vranesevich and some of the PacketStorm flap. What I found most interesting was the outright recognition of how the media operates with "experts", and reporters use of the same people over and over.
Posted by Mike@ABC:
Before I start, a bit of a mea culpa: I used JP on my site, even did a profile on him back in March or April of '98. And back then, quite frankly, he wasn't a bad source. He had some good stuff, decent contacts, and was still interested in reporting on the hacker scene.
Then, early this year, he re-launched his site and adopted a new editorial policy. And I stopped calling him -- not because of his opinions, because he can do his site however he wants -- but in covering hacking, I need sources that will help me contact and understand the hacking community, not bash it. I want to leave the value judgements to the readers. Thus, I want to have actual hackers as sources, as well as real-world big-time security experts on the other side. Without slamming him one way or another, it's safe to say that JP is neither.
Covering hackers is hard. With a few exceptions, most hackers don't want to be found, and those willing to talk to media usually want a slew of protections. And of course, we in the media have to try to determine whether these folks are bonafide hackers, or just guys who hang out on IRC and play with downloads from last year's B.O. release. It's a tough call, and there are many of us who dropped the ball at one point or another.
As for this column, this was probably the safest way to cover the questions surrounding JP, PacketStorm, and the other controversies. Many journalists have looked into this at one time or another, but there just aren't enough people willing to go on the record to make it a straight news story. But a columnist, as someone writing an opinion piece, has a little more leeway. He must still write factually, but can put forth theories more readily that someone writing straight news stories. I'm glad someone was able to figure out how to report this.
And I wouldn't worry too much about the lawsuits. One could easily argue that by speaking to the media -- indeed, by seeking out news coverage -- JP has made himself into somewhat of a public figure when it comes to the hacking community. If someone slammed JP because of his personal life, then that would be grounds for a suit. But since he's putting himself out there as the expert, questioning that expertise in a public forum is more than appropriate. Of course, I'm not a lawyer...!
That's it. Hope the perspective helps. As usual, this is my opinion, not that of ABCNEWS.com, ABC, Infoseek, Disney, the Mouse, etc., et. al.