Pentagon Seeks a New Generation of Hackers 134
Hugh Pickens writes "Forbes reports on a new military-funded program aimed at leveraging an untapped resource: the population of geeky high school and college students in the US. The Cyber Challenge will create three new national competitions for high school and college students intended to foster a young generation of cybersecurity researchers. 'The contests will test skills applicable to both government and private industry: attacking and defending digital targets, stealing data, and tracing how others have stolen it. [...] The Department of Defense's Cyber Crime Center will expand its Digital Forensics Challenge, a program it has run since 2006, to include high school and college participants, tasking them with problems like tracing digital intrusions and reconstructing incomplete data sources. In the most controversial move, the SANS Institute, an independent organization, plans to organize the Network Attack Competition, which challenges students to find and exploit vulnerabilities in software, compromise enemy systems and steal data. Talented entrants may be recruited for cyber training camps planned for summer 2010, nonprofit camps run by the military and funded in part by private companies, or internships at agencies including the National Security Agency, the Department of Energy or Carnegie Mellon's Computer Emergency Response Team.'"
Foreigners?? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Foreigners?? (Score:4, Insightful)
And remember folks. (Score:5, Insightful)
When they work for you, they're "freedom fighters".
When they work for the other guys, they're "terrorists".
Cybersecurity (Score:4, Insightful)
... a young generation of cybersecurity researchers ... attacking and defending digital targets, stealing data ...
Isn't it funny that whenever there is talk about security it generally means the opposite?
I have to say I'm a little frustrated.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I went all the way through a MS CS looking for any opportunity to study computing security and drew nothing but shrugs from my professors when I inquired about seriously studying the subject.
If they really want to produce cybersecurity experts, forget the competitions - you have to make training available. Forget all of the hand waving talk about academics not "having the right mindset". I have found that the kind of people who say such things just don't want to share their knowledge.
A recruiting aid for unclearable personnel (Score:4, Insightful)
When you consider that only a lily-white goody twoshoes can pass the lifestyle polygraph it's no wonder they can't find enough people. They figure if you've ever tried to access any system without the Proper Authority, ever, you're a bad risk. So if you've ever held down two buttons at once on a vending machine to see what happens, you need not apply.
That makes about as much sense as refusing to recruit people into the army because they were in a fight, once.
There is no shortage of people with black hat skills. The problem is that the government does not want all but a handful of those few who are willing to work a job where a routine fuckup can be prosecuted as a felony.
Culture vs Goals (Score:5, Insightful)
What's the hook? What I mean is: why would some high schooler join this program vs the alternatives? -which by the way....are way more fun. Would you really want to hack for some PHB who has TPS Cover Sheets to fill out? I can't imagine a less rewarding situation
This seems like wishful thinking to me. How many "hacker recruiting" programs have we seen/heard about now? I can count 3 or 4 off the top of my head. Methinks they are not having much success finding good hackers.
good identifier of both sides (Score:5, Insightful)
Quite an ingenious move.
While the initiative may seem to foster and legalize what previously have been considered acts of malevolence, it also helps the government to identify and build a register of possible future trouble makers with skills.
This will get them both a great recruitment program, but it will also give them a a great monitoring tool.
I'm not pro nor con, just saying. Nice Database of profiles. Do you bite?
Re:Foreigners?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably not. There are quite a few talented people out there who spent already years to get into "it". Why bother training someone for 2-4 years if you can get someone who already has the skill?
Part of being a hacker is being able to find the resources. So if you want to learn, just do it.
This is hilarious! (Score:3, Insightful)
The idea that there is "hacking training" or even college is hilarious! Hacking, by definition, means you do things that were not designed to be done. IOW, you hacked them to make them work together. It could be computers...or it could be stereo speakers. They only differ in form.
Things like this can not be taught by books or professors. They are learned by experience and tinkering. There are no shortcuts to becoming a hacker. Only time, an inquisitive nature, and quite a bit of OCD can make you one. You'll probably need some Jolt cola too....but that's a topic for another post. The very idea that hacking can be taught is laughable. That's like teaching someone to 'be successful' or to 'live healthy' or some other cockamamie abstract concept.
Simply put: you are looking in the wrong place for your training and education.
Re:You're describing education (Score:3, Insightful)
So, essentially, you say people should learn computer theory, programming (and the pitfalls like memory leaks and bogus data input), assembler language and processor architecture, logic and various tools associated with it?
Gee, I wonder why there's no branch of study for that...
Re:Finally.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I have to say I'm a little frustrated.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I can understand your frustration, but I hope I can offer some encouragement, too.
Yes, there is a significant difference between the academic and practical sides of things, and they each have their place. I may be biased here, but I feel that the best position is to have one foot firmly in each realm. I work full-time in infosec and I am a part-time university professor (with a Ph.D. in infosec), so I bridge that gap, bringing my practical real-world experience to my students and bringing the benefits of the academic world to my full-time employer.
There are universities with faculty who have practical experience and are willing to share that experience and understanding with anyone they feel they can trust. It's a judgement call, and people make mistakes on both ends. Sometimes, a well-intentioned and capable individual is passed by because the one with the knowlege is not sure if the individual can be trusted, and other times someone with malicious intent is trained.
The information is out there. You can find it from people who know and who are willing to teach or you can find it on your own through experimentation.
Do not give up. You will find the knowlege you seek if you persist.
Agree to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, think about it....many hackers know more about the equipment than the people who actually designed and built it. And you think books are going to teach them to hack it? C'mon....
Methinks you are confusing "security professional" with "hacker". Sometimes they overlap, but not always. I know plenty of INFOSEC guys who don't know a damn thing about hacking. If you were to put them into a room with a real hacker, you would quickly see the hacker run circles around the pro. Now, why would that be?
Riddle me this: IF what you say is true, then why aren't we swimming in hackers all around us? Why is the govt having such a hard time finding qualified applicants? Why aren't there more uber hackers "out there"? After all, if I want to be 1337, all I have to do is go to the right classes and have an active interest. So what is stopping millions of wannabe kids from doing just that?
Endless Cycle (Score:3, Insightful)
And so continues the cycle of Slashdot stories of "$ARMED_FORCE is starting a new elite CyberSecurityDefenderProtectUsFromBadGuysSuperForce" and:
1. Former IT folks in the $ARMED_FORCE ranting on Slashdot about how $ARMED_FORCE did nearly everything in their power to make competent IT people leave.
2. $ARMED_FORCE continuing to disqualify those who are over 30 or who have a pasty-faced a complexion unbecoming to G.I. Joe.
3. $ARMED_FORCE not wanting to stop using Windows for anything secure.
4. More Chinese hackers putting stupid stuff on $ARMED_FORCE's IIS servers.
Obligator Good Will Hunting quote... (Score:3, Insightful)
"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had no problem with, get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Oh, send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes back to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, he realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And, of course, the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them, but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin', 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat, the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president. "
Re:Foreigners?? (Score:1, Insightful)
Madness? THIS...IS...AMERICA!! /* crawls back into geek cave */
Sorry, had to do it
Re:I have to say I'm a little frustrated.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Doubt it will work (Score:3, Insightful)
If you read through the hacker ethic, you will find that it's completely incompatible to the values enforced by any military institution.