Thursday, July 19, 2012

A creative approach to stopping hackers

Get them girlfriends.  Srlsy:

Want to put a stop to hacking? The solution is simple: Get hackers girlfriends.
To be sure, that prescription is tongue-in-cheek, but it speaks to a hacking truth: Based on arrests of alleged Anonymous, LulzSec, TeamPoison, and other hacktivist group participants--not to mention many cyber-crime gangs--it's the rare participant who's over the age of 25--or even 19.

Clearly, the early 20s are an inflection point in most hackers' lives, when they transition from engaging in criminal activity to becoming law-abiding citizens. Accordingly, might outreach programs, perhaps involving older ex-hackers, help keep them out of jail? They might even steer would-be hackers into lucrative professions that put their skills to better use, such as penetration testing.
Well, there you go.  It might just work, too.  After all, there's that old joke:
Q. What's the difference between a hacker and an IT Security Professional?

A. The IT Security Professional has a mortgage.
 If we can afford to spend $900B on non-"Shovel-Ready" "Stimulus" programs, there should be some spare change to get hot girlfriends* for IT Security types.  Me, I think I'm set, though.



* Or hot boyfriends.  YMMV.

4 comments:

Old NFO said...

LOL, 'mortgage'... :-)

Dave H said...

Sounds like a national security issue. If we don't provide them girlfriends, someone else may. That's how the Soviet Union convinced guards at the US embassy in Moscow to look the other way while they planted bugs back in the 80s.

Borepatch said...

Old NFO, there's more than a grain of truth to the mortgage thing.

SiGraybeard said...

Remember that redheaded Russian spy last year? Anna something-or-other-ski?

Deep in the Kremlin, "There are NSA computer nerds with intelligence we need, send the hot redhead."