Comment on 'Gay furry hackers' disband after Project 2025 data theft

• MajorHavoc@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  doubt the furries will care much about being outed as furries, but cybercrime is a big no-no when it comes to actual employment

  Absolutely.

  I would prefer our gay furry hackers keep things fully legal, for their own sakes.

  That said, Mike needs help from folks like me to catch these kids, and as long as they’re sticking to ethical hacking, I’m not motivated.

  Also, I don’t like Mike.

  His claim that he actually has my kind of help, actually on his side, is… overconfident, I think.

  I can’t guarantee that, though, so I’m glad to hear our ethical hackers have decided to lay low.

  In any case, everyone has a slightly different perspective on what counts as ethical, so I hope they’ll stick to legal as much as their conscience will allow, from here out.

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• prole@beehaw.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  but cybercrime is a big no-no when it comes to actual employment.

  Depends on what field you’re in. There are entire sectors of tech that seek out skilled hackers for things like pen testing.

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  • skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    [deleted]

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    • prole@beehaw.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Again, it depends. Some of the most notorious hackers of all time literally had their prison sentences commuted so that they can work for the NSA (or US Gov’t in some capacity).

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  • MajorHavoc@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    They have a good point though. Pen testing is a vanishingly small corner of our field, and I haven’t seen anyone with a past conviction get hired for those roles, in a long time.

    I’ve seen too many hacker kids think their hacker reputation is going to get them out of trouble, and it didn’t.

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    • prole@beehaw.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’ll defer to you on this as I’m by no means an expert. I suppose I thought there was more demand for young people who have that specific skillset than there actually is.

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      • MajorHavoc@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Yeah. The demand for red team skills is complicated.

        There’s plenty of work to do. But there’s a lot of anxiety, and in some cases laws, that make hiring managers cautious.

        When a team member is going to sometimes physically break into a data center, things are much simpler if they have an unimpeachable reputation.

        And that, itself, is unfair, since everyone’s definition of “unimpeachable reputation” is going to be a bit different. I’m inclined to factor in motives, but not everyone can.

        So it’s not the end of the world for a young hacker with a conviction, but they definitely have a more difficult time.

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