I’ll be brief, though I could ramble on for hours and bore the t%ts off you. Basically in this largely connected world, and arena of ‘collaboration’ at an enterprise and a corporate level. The perception and the role of the “Mainstream” hacker has changed a huge amount.
This is topical for me at the moment as I am currently attending Kiwicon II, New Zealand’s own hacker/security convention; not as a hacker - or someone who is interested in becoming a hacker, but as an IT professional who is cognicent enough to recognise that not ALL hacking is bad, and in fact can be a good way of moving the IT development community forwards. Especially in this increasingly ‘Open Source’ world.
I’m not going to whistle on about any of the specifics covered this year, but the bent is predominantly on security or the lack there-of in enterprises potentially high up the food-chain, and the rather short sighted reliance on cheap, off-the-shelf, open source solutions to their security requirements. Making it insanely easy for the people they are most likley trying to avoid to get in.
Unfortunatly either ‘budget’ or ‘it has to work’ mentality creates an environment where many corners appear to be cut. So we don’t even get a chance to be complaicent since the models being rolled out and deployed are broken to start with - simply trawl the forums on RFID if you need a hint!
I’m at least in a unique enough position to be able to learn from peers and educate in order to evolve not just the infrastructure but also the perceptions of the people surrounding it as well. To use an analogy, a carpenter can build a school in a third world country, but unless it is populated with the teachers who know how to use it, that school may amount to nothing more than a shed!
Although I haven’t seen all the talks at this year’s Kiwicon (which saddens me) since I am trying to do too many things at once this weekend, I want my cake AND I want to eat it ok!! I’m going to make an effort to get up early in the morning, since this is a weekender.
If you mozy on over the the Kiwicon website feel free to check it out, but as with any website that thinks outside the box; I’d advise you to use your best judgement when clicking links you are not sure about, and certainly think twice if you are at work!
In other news, at approximatley this time last year, I was on a plane heading for New Zealand!!
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