White Hat publicity

Okay so the argument of white hat vs. black hat is getting ever more publicity. So all you here that profess that you are white hat, tell me what you think of this article.

http://www.vnunet.com/Features/1129266

I especially like this part: Ionut Ionescu, head of Exodus Communications' security division, says: "The issue of white hat versus black hat hackers is very similar to the one when you've lost your keys: should you employ a locksmith who is very good at unlocking doors, or hire a criminal who breaks into houses?"

Btu I think the analogy falls short somewhat of it's intended target. Now if you change it slightly to include testing your home alarm system, then the choice of who to hire is a little more obvious. I would rather hire an ethical burglar for that job. (If there is an "ethical burglar") ;)

white hats and grey hats. hire no black hats.

Tell me. If the difference in perception between white hats and black hats is hazy, then where the hell do grey hats stand? Just wondering....

In the haze of course. :)

Yeah, in the haze. Thats why they wear grey hats. So they can blend in with their surrondings and disappear.

Just like white hats wearing white to blend in with the light, and black hats blend in with the darkness.
:)

They are just terms and stereotypical at that, we constantly complain about the media portrayal and misuse of the word hacker yet we have created a group and set of symbol hats for each type of hacker.

Hmmm...

Gentleman we've seen the enemy and they is us.

The hat's are only a simple way of deffining if a hacker is "good" or "bad"..... (uuuh)
If we didn't have it, a bad hacker would be called something like h:567/C:435/W:5 Depending on the record of the hacker, which would make thing a hell of alot harde for us!

- Noia

The grey hatterz, I am not so sure of this one, how can one be defned as both good, and bad......maby theese are the script kiddies, Evil in intent, but not good enough to acctualy "DO" anything...... :D :D

I call those ones the brown hatters.

There is a haze between the black hats and white hats, and the grey hat stands in the haze.
The kiddiot sees the haze from the distance, and finds someone willing to take him there while he sleeps in the back of the car.
The cracker tries to get into the haze by trying to figure out which parts of the hze he might be able to clear away with a leafblower.
The virus-writer puts special gas into an RC car and sends it in, then laughs when the haze turns pink.
The DoS kiddie hypnotizes a bunch of people to get them to use their leafblowers to blow away the haze.
The programmer decides that he wants to change the fog, and makes a small current to one side.
The Security analyst puts up trees to stop the wind from blowing the haze away.
And the end user stumbles around in the haze, depserately looking for last years profit reports.

but which side would you perfer???

I don't wear hats, they keep the steam from rising..........

Excellent post. Thanks for this. Just some thoughts.

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The terms 'white hat' and 'black hat' are generalisations. The New Hacker's Dictionary defines a black hat as "A cracker, someone bent on breaking into the system you are protecting." A 'white hat', on the other hand is an "ally or security specialist".

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Note the word generalisation. People will always disagree and try to redefine and pigeon hole hackers. But this is pretty much right on the money.

Quote:

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I would rather hire an ethical burglar for that job. (If there is an "ethical burglar")

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Interesting. I think there is a little more "honour among thieves" with hackers, at least in some circles. But is it always theft or just the exploration of the unknown by inquisitive minds?

Quote:

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There was a famous case here in Sweden where a company wanted to hire someone who had been arrested for cracking. They paid his legal fees during a trial. We hire people who send us CVs instead of breaking into a bank.

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I'm glad this was brought up. A lot of people have heard stories where someone has broken into a company's system and then been ask to work for the company who was really impressed by the hacker's incredible skills. Sure, this does happen. But in the real world, it's mostly CV's and interviews. Sorry if this shatters the dreams of some elite wannabes.

Quote:

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What I'd like to see is a whole generation of legitimately certified experts who have something to prove: that they are trustworthy, and that they have the skills.

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There is no doubt that the IT industry needs to agree on a set of certication that will help IT take the next step into become a real profession on par with law, accounting, medicine etc. But how do you certify someone as being trustworthy? This is a personal ethical stance that must be applied to every decision that one has to make over their careers. Trust can only be vaguely measured on reputation as even this can be misleading.

Hats, always with the hats. ggrrrrrr. I hate hats. Cracker hacker white black bad good security minded remote neworking exploting computer expert l33t......... all = too much hype.



How bout this. Hi, my name is Josh and I have a computer and yes I have had one for a long time. Its a hobby job life whatever. How bout you? Everything else does not matter. I don't worry about the media and their view of me or anyone else. The perceptions of the media are always shifting just let the truth settle out. Sooner or later everyone will understand.

By the way, good article Korp. Keep em coming.

Peace out

Thanks all.

Whitehat Blackhat i dont really care about it...

im going to have to agree with ennis on this one we constantly say we are not as the media potrays hackers but yet we are splitting the hacker term up to good and bad? does this make sense? i think their needs to be new terms to let the media know that hackers are good and wanted in the community and lets call them x until a better word are the ppl we do not want. i refuse to call them crackers as many of u ppl do as i think they are the ppl that crack encryptions and games etc so i want a new word dammit
hehe
RiOtEr

the way i see grey hatters are into the whole ethical thing but also they see the injustice when theyre system or someone elses system is being attacked and they act on it without involving the feds and doing what they have to do