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It's a shame that hackers are so glamorized in the media... Hacking is actually pretty easy. Most hackers just use vulnerabilities which other people have disco

It's a shame that hackers are so glamorized in the media... Hacking is actually pretty easy. Most hackers just use vulnerabilities which other people have discovered and they rarely innovate themselves. Even discovering new vulnerabilities isn't that hard. Once you know a particular codebase well enough, it's pretty easy to find new vulnerabilities. The average programmer will likely identify and fix many such bugs/vulnerabilities each day as part of their regular job but they don't get the same recognition that hackers get. Also, social engineering is hardly engineering - It is just another name for deception/trickery. I fully support hacking where the intent is to improve a system but doing so with the intent of achieving personal fame and fortune is just wrong and the tech media should make more effort to distinguish between the two.

vox_mollis 11y ago
In what world do you live? Hackers are vehemently demonized by the media; by no means is there any sort of glorification occurring.
- unimpressive 11y ago
  Demonization can be a form of glorification. Consider for example the following two paragraphs: "He was slick, convincing several security guards he was a wayward contractor on his way to meet the department head. Thermal cameras in the server room defeated by a homemade polyester shield, it took only twenty minutes to extract BigCo's financial records. Having slipped in under the noses of corporate security like the most adept of rats, he skittered away in the anonymity of directions to the bathroom leaving no trace of his visit." "The felon broke into the store through its back door window using a crowbar. They stole two empty registers and a safe, ransacking the building in their search for anything of value. Ramir was frustrated when he came in the next morning after, yet remains optimistic. "We may have been robbed, but we know that we're going to come out on top in the long run." The suspect is known from security footage to have fled the scene in a green pickup truck. If you have any information related to this crime..." You get a very different picture of these two peoples competence just from the way they're depicted and the kind of crime they commit.
- argonaut 11y ago
  An easily-misinterpreted choice of words from the OP doesn't invalidate his point. I agree - hackers are definitely *made out to be more [powerful, capable, scary, etc.] than they actually are.

vox_mollis 11y ago

In what world do you live? Hackers are vehemently demonized by the media; by no means is there any sort of glorification occurring.

unimpressive 11y ago
Demonization can be a form of glorification. Consider for example the following two paragraphs: "He was slick, convincing several security guards he was a wayward contractor on his way to meet the department head. Thermal cameras in the server room defeated by a homemade polyester shield, it took only twenty minutes to extract BigCo's financial records. Having slipped in under the noses of corporate security like the most adept of rats, he skittered away in the anonymity of directions to the bathroom leaving no trace of his visit." "The felon broke into the store through its back door window using a crowbar. They stole two empty registers and a safe, ransacking the building in their search for anything of value. Ramir was frustrated when he came in the next morning after, yet remains optimistic. "We may have been robbed, but we know that we're going to come out on top in the long run." The suspect is known from security footage to have fled the scene in a green pickup truck. If you have any information related to this crime..." You get a very different picture of these two peoples competence just from the way they're depicted and the kind of crime they commit.
argonaut 11y ago
An easily-misinterpreted choice of words from the OP doesn't invalidate his point. I agree - hackers are definitely *made out to be more [powerful, capable, scary, etc.] than they actually are.