The terms 'ethical' seems to be misused. Its not the teaching that will be ethical/unethical, its what the students will do with the material taught after they leave the bootcamp.
Someone who visits a cracker website where unethical behavior is sometimes promoted to learn how to bypass IDS' only so that he can better secure his own IDS against emerging attacks does not appear to me as being unethical. Similarly, someone who attends a SANS course or some 'ethical hacker bootcamp' and goes out and use his newly learnt skills to DoS networks will certainly not be acting out in an ethical manner.
I'm under the impression that the people running the boot camp are simply trying to exploit the mysticism that surrounds the hacker culture while reassuring the general population (and the ones who will be paying the bill such as your boss) that the students who will be comming out the camp will be 1337 H4x0rs who will only use their skills for the greater good of humanity.
Cheap marketing strategy targeted at Joe Six-pack if you ask me.
Dear Mr. Geist,
I am currently a student at U of O. I first want to congratulate you for giving our university such a positive image in online community.
I have recently learnt through a reliable source at the University that services like SASS (Student Academic Success Service) send records by email containing psychological and academic profiles tied with the student's name and student number. As you are probably aware, email is not encrypted and system personnel who manage those email accounts have access to potentially damaging information that could compromise the student's reputation.
Furthermore, many SASS services promote the illusion of confidentiality and anonymity. Students are not made aware that such information is recorded and kept on them for an indefinite period of time.
My question: What is the point of fighting the online privacy war when their is already a war to be fought at home?
Slashdot Mirror
the NSA would need a massive system to handle just the incoming data let alone one to sort through it.
Ever heard of Echelon?
The terms 'ethical' seems to be misused. Its not the teaching that will be ethical/unethical, its what the students will do with the material taught after they leave the bootcamp.
Someone who visits a cracker website where unethical behavior is sometimes promoted to learn how to bypass IDS' only so that he can better secure his own IDS against emerging attacks does not appear to me as being unethical. Similarly, someone who attends a SANS course or some 'ethical hacker bootcamp' and goes out and use his newly learnt skills to DoS networks will certainly not be acting out in an ethical manner.
I'm under the impression that the people running the boot camp are simply trying to exploit the mysticism that surrounds the hacker culture while reassuring the general population (and the ones who will be paying the bill such as your boss) that the students who will be comming out the camp will be 1337 H4x0rs who will only use their skills for the greater good of humanity.
Cheap marketing strategy targeted at Joe Six-pack if you ask me.
Dear Mr. Geist, I am currently a student at U of O. I first want to congratulate you for giving our university such a positive image in online community. I have recently learnt through a reliable source at the University that services like SASS (Student Academic Success Service) send records by email containing psychological and academic profiles tied with the student's name and student number. As you are probably aware, email is not encrypted and system personnel who manage those email accounts have access to potentially damaging information that could compromise the student's reputation. Furthermore, many SASS services promote the illusion of confidentiality and anonymity. Students are not made aware that such information is recorded and kept on them for an indefinite period of time. My question: What is the point of fighting the online privacy war when their is already a war to be fought at home?