] Hackers are training within our borders in how to
] participate in terrorism. By staying silent, we condone
] it.
] BY ARA C. TREMBLY

] The criminal activity I%u2019m pointing to is hacking,
] the unauthorized computer system break-ins that may
] result in anything from some annoying graffiti on a Web
] page to data theft to extortion demands from those who do
] the breaking.
]
] And how is such activity promoted? Believe it or not,
] hackers have their own trade shows and conventions, and
] the programs read like something out of Kafka.
]
] Take, for example, The Fifth HOPE (Hackers on Planet
] Earth) convention held this past July in New York. The
] event, now apparently in its fifth incarnation, is
] sponsored by 2600, a magazine devoted to hackers and
] their activities.
]
] Perusing the program for the conference, one sees a
] session on the IBM AS/400 system that promises %u201Cto
] show where %u2018interesting%u2019 data can be found and
] where possible weaknesses are in the system.%u201D The
] course is taught by one %u201CStankDawg%u201D (obviously
] his real name) who is alleged to be %u201Ca senior
] programmer/analyst who has worked for Fortune 500
] companies and large universities.%u201D He also is the
] founder of The Digital DawgPound, a hacker group. Maybe
] he works for your company right now.

Beware the evil that is StankDawg. A couple of points:

1) This came out in November, a full 5 months after the conference.
2) It is apparent by the way this was written that the author didn't even attend the conference or listen to the audio panels. IF so, they would have made comments about my appearance or quoted from my presentation itself. Instead they simply copied the text from the web site.
3) His defination of hackers at the top of the article is dead wrong. It will be hard to convince them any different if that is their definition.
4) My presentation specifically stated NOT to break into machines without permission. I started off with a comment that this was about LEARNING and PROTECTING systems. The goal was NOT TO teach how to break into an AS/400 and that was stated on the first 2 slides!

So the thing is, I know that people will write their anti-hacker articles. I saw some other reviews of me saying that "StankDawg is on the prowl" and how hackers are the bad guys. I am not naive. But this is the first time anyone has out-and-out called me a terrorist. I like to think that I am one of the "good guys" in the hacking scene. Apparently, I am not. :(

Technology Decisions