U.S. Officials Go to Hackers' Convention to Recruit

[Kerrytravelers]

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050811064509990014&_ccc=5&cid=842

U.S. Officials Go to Hackers' Convention to Recruit

By Andy Sullivan, Reuters


LAS VEGAS (Aug. 11) - Attention hackers: Uncle Sam wants you.

As scam artists, organized-crime rings and other miscreants find a home on the Internet, top federal officials are trolling hacker conferences to scout talent and talk up the glories of a career on the front lines of the information wars.

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At a "Meet the Feds" panel designed to bridge the cultural divide, a young man waved a pages-long manifesto and demanded, "I would like to know why the federal government, especially some of the law enforcement agencies, are destroying this country."

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Attacking Foreign Networks?

The Pentagon is rumored to employ hackers to attack foreign networks. A Pentagon spokesman was not available for comment.

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"I'm learning while I'm here but I'm also getting the names of people I can maybe call on later so we have a better understanding as cases go along," said Don Blumenthal, who oversees the Internet lab for investigators at the Federal Trade Commission.

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Many defend this "black hat" approach, arguing that attacks that cause damage in the short term raise awareness of online threats and thus improve the security picture as a whole.

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Well, I feel safer. Ten bucks sites that question the boy king are monitored, our information stolen and suddenly, DUers have meet-ups in Federal Prison instead of protests and bars.

I wonder why these young people aren't being recruited for foot service in Iraq instead? Iran is next... we're going to need a "few good men."

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. Or to learn how to 'untraceably' hack domestic voting machines, no doubt.

[mtnester]

2. It is one of those keep your enemies close

hire them, if possible things.

[MadHound]

3. Well quite frankly I find this to be a step up.

It used to be in the bad old days(late eighties-mid ninties) that when a particularly good(and prolific) hacker got busted or entrapped, the feds would offer him a deal that he couldn't refuse, hack for the government or go rot in jail for years and years. I knew a couple of hackers who got caught up in this, and haven't seen or heard from them ever since:scared:

At least the Pentagon is being more up front about their recruitment, and not resorting to blackmail and extortion.