3 ms·

You make more money and have better career prospects on the straight and narrow. My circle of friends in highschool were a bunch of script kiddies and had lots

You make more money and have better career prospects on the straight and narrow. My circle of friends in highschool were a bunch of script kiddies and had lots of fun trolling people, stores, businesses with dumb hijinks in the late 2000s. The ones that went to university and pursued engineering degrees are happy, have families and are content to hack around on home automation and drones with their spare cash. The ones that went too deep into the black-hat world are divorced, can't hold down an apartment, let alone a stable job. Have been swatted (instigated by rivals), have been raided (actually got caught with their hand in the cookie jar), had all their electronics confiscated (the government does not like hacktivism!) and are failures in life. Sure, ripping off CC numbers from a business with a shitty PHP storefront website is exciting, but it's a bitch to cash out on. And its very inconsistent work, like feast-or-famine, which is shitty for things like paying rent and bills. It's just not worth the risk, especially for internet fame. Edit: I would suggest getting them involved in positive activities that scratch that itch. Does their school have a robotics team? Can you buy them a kit for building a DIY FPV drone? Got any projects of your own they can help you with? Are there any local competitions you can get them in? (Math, drone racing etc.)

robocat 2y ago
> The ones that went too deep into the black-hat world are divorced, can't hold down an apartment, let alone a stable job. Have been swatted, raided, electronics confiscated, and are failures in life Can you share your opinion on whether (A) its a moral choice, or (B) there's a selection process for going to uni and choosing a normal life or (C) all people that try blackhat end up with deeply shitty outcomes, or (D) make a suggestion for outcome cause. It isn't clear what influence is needed to help someone avoid the shitty outcomes.
- morkalork 2y ago
  I don't believe it's a moral choice, rather I would chalk it up to a lack of impulse/self control that causes the negative outcomes in every dimension. Could they have gone to university? Yeah, they were smart but they weren't interested in school work so that door closed on them fast. That's the self-control. I can't say if what I witnessed in my friend group generalizes, for every burnout hacker there could be 10x as many who are wildly successful and are never caught. By definition we'd never know how many there are. I guess an equivalent question is: My son is learning to drive, and he's discovered that speeding and driving on the edge, maybe even recklessly, is fun. How do I get them to straighten out before they do something stupid like street racing, or driving under the influence, and getting into an accident or arrested? Same answer: self control and impulse control.

robocat 2y ago

> The ones that went too deep into the black-hat world are divorced, can't hold down an apartment, let alone a stable job. Have been swatted, raided, electronics confiscated, and are failures in life Can you share your opinion on whether (A) its a moral choice, or (B) there's a selection process for going to uni and choosing a normal life or (C) all people that try blackhat end up with deeply shitty outcomes, or (D) make a suggestion for outcome cause. It isn't clear what influence is needed to help someone avoid the shitty outcomes.

morkalork 2y ago
I don't believe it's a moral choice, rather I would chalk it up to a lack of impulse/self control that causes the negative outcomes in every dimension. Could they have gone to university? Yeah, they were smart but they weren't interested in school work so that door closed on them fast. That's the self-control. I can't say if what I witnessed in my friend group generalizes, for every burnout hacker there could be 10x as many who are wildly successful and are never caught. By definition we'd never know how many there are. I guess an equivalent question is: My son is learning to drive, and he's discovered that speeding and driving on the edge, maybe even recklessly, is fun. How do I get them to straighten out before they do something stupid like street racing, or driving under the influence, and getting into an accident or arrested? Same answer: self control and impulse control.