2011: The year hacking goes mainstream

I’ve stated it before and I’ll state it again.This will be the year of the hacker –- or rather, the year hacking goes mainstream.

It’s been brewing for quite some time. According to McAfee, a team of Chinese hackers has been infiltrating computer networks for the world’s largest oil and gas companies. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that Nasdaq’s network was penetrated (though not the Nasdaq market –- at least, as far as we know). And the on-going battle between Anonymous and the folks who are aiming to take it down is really just heating up.

[ Also on InfoWorld, Cringely looks at the AOL-Huffington Post buyout and warns: The mediocre shall inherit the Web. | For a humorous take on the tech industry's shenanigans, subscribe to Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Underground newsletter. ]

Before you fire up your email program or leap immediately to the comments to correct me: Yes, I know: Hacker is not the right word for this kind of activity. Hackers are not necessarily criminals or even evil-doers. There are white hat, black hat, gray hat, and the occasional houndstooth hatted hackers.

The appropriate word for people who attack computer systems for their own nefarious criminal purposes is “cracker.” But to most people, a cracker is either something you spread cheese on or someone you try to avoid speaking to at cocktail parties. These days everybody comprehends “hacker” –- at least, the Hollywood version. Sorry, but that is just the way it is.

And when hackers get tired of eating Doritos for dinner and have actual bills to pay, they grow up to be highly paid security consultants who are then hired to do battle with their younger doppelgangers.

Case in point: The war between HBGary Federal, a security firm hired by the FBI to suss out who was behind the revenge attacks on assorted “enemies” of WikiLeaks, and Anonymous.

Last weekend, HBGary CEO Aaron Barr made the fatal mistake of bragging to the Financial Times about how his firm had managed to infiltrate the computers of leading members of Anonymous. Per the FT:

source : www.infoworld.com

2011: The year hacking goes mainstream

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