The Old Days Are Gone....
The good ol' days of hackers and phreakers are gone. No more will we see the likes of Cap'n Crunch, Bernie S., Emmanuel Goldstein, The_triad, Phiber Optik, Doc Holiday, Zer0cool, Acid_Burn, Weevil, or even P4NTz + H4G1S. In fact, Cap'n Crunch answers questions on ICQ and runs a business named WebCrunchers out of Stockton, California; The_triad can be found on Yahoo! (as always), and he runs a Computer Forensics business out of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The best of the best have hung up their hats and moved on. The world has changed dramatically because of their findings, teachings, and exploits. However, no one else has been able to match them.
One of the possible reasons is because of the increase in awareness, lack of reporting, and the number of "Script Kiddies" in existence today. The good old fashioned hacker can no longer be proud to hold the title, as it has been sullied by those with little to no experience who crusade not for knowledge, but for their own petty gains. Where now can we find the old ones; where have all the wise ones gone?
I really believe that the public has become so aware of crackers (they're not hackers, we all know this; they are crackers, wannabes, and Script Kiddies") that they have taken two radical stances: to generalize the category and prosecute everyone, or to join the masses and become part of the problem.
The old-school hacker was one who did it to gain knowledge. Sure, we were a little conceited, and highly egotistical, but we had good reason to be. We were the best. We were elite. We 0wn3d the world. And what we learned, we passed on so that others could continue. Every bit of security, antivirus protection, et cetera, exists because someone was willing to challenge that which existed.
However, with the release of so many new viruses each day, one may be lead to believe the hacker community is still alive and well. True, while the community is vibrant, inhaling code and exhaling binary machine instructions, the morals and ethics are gone. And even worse, the ranks have been abandoned. Now, one is considered a hacker when he or she can operate a bot in an AOL chat room.
And this is the neocultural environment that is hacking today.
No longer can you find someone who builds their own blue box, black box, beige box, or the elusive rainbow box. Very seldom can you even find a "txtphile" explaining how to decypher Pay-Per-View with aluminum foil. Of course, the methods of encryption have changed, but where is the community that once challenged that? Remember how Cap'n Crunch used a 2600MHz pitch to make free calls at payphones using the old Cap'n Crunch whistle? What about when The_triad released the entire algorithm of Social Security number assignments? And does anyone remember the mid-90's when P4NTZ + H4G1S defaced the now-number-one site in the world, Yahoo!, among others?
Kids nowadays don't know these things. We are an elite and dying breed.
At the rate we are moving now, it seems unfortunate that the world of technology may noticeably slow down, unless the hacking community gains some inspiration to come to the forefront again, and soon.
Thankfully, not all hackers have gone completely away. Aside from mentioning Cap'n Crunch, The_triad, and Emmanuel Goldstein, there is also the group from L0pht, who now run @Stake (http://[email protected], or just simple stake.com). Not to be forgotten, as well, is eEye Digital Security, whose Retina suite is a phenomenal addition to any expert's toolbox. Still, now that the old blackhats have become greyhats at best, can we honestly expect any successful uprising from the hacker community?
Still, I hold out hope against hope that the underworld isn't dead, but sleeping. I seriously hope it will be back, but I think the old days of the messiah-like hackers are gone. I honestly can't say I see another Mitnick coming out.
So, for myself (an old hacker, too - one you've heard of ;-) ), I have to admit I miss the good old days. When I think about times on the old ShadoWorld BBS with the LoD (Lords of Destruction), I get virtually misty-eyed.
Someday we should have a reunion....
.... for directions, follow the FBI cars.
[ANONYMOUS]
