Subject: [NEXTEL-1] "Hackers for Hire"

From: Marcelrf <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 14:16:42 -0500

"Hackers for Hire"
TechNewsWorld (02/13/04); Germain, Jack M.

It has been a common practice for companies to hire "White
Hat" hackers to test their network security, but some
experts are questioning the wisdom of such an approach,
especially as new, stronger, and more potentially damaging
cybersecurity threats emerge and government regulations
about data security and customer privacy increase. Former
regional partner for Deloitte & Touche Security Services
Group Thomas Patterson compares hiring one-time hackers to
putting a fox in a henhouse, and advocates several
fundamental rules for cutting risks. "We believe we can
achieve the same level of success without sacrificing the
trust of our own clients," notes Patterson. "We may go to
the hacking conferences and stay up on what's the latest in
the hacking community, but it's a fine line. We hire the
good guys." Invisus co-founder James Harrison draws a very
fine boundary between White Hat and Black Hat hackers, and
argues that software security products and certified
computer experts offer far more safety, since they engender
reliability and trust. On the other hand, security
consultant Gary Morse claims there are big differences
between good and bad hackers: White Hat hackers, he insists,
are veteran programmers with no criminal histories, and they
devote more time to writing lengthy documentation on a
company's security flaws than actually penetrating networks.
He also downplays the threat of email worms and viruses,
arguing that hacker threats are far more dangerous.

===============================================================

Hackers for Hire
By Jack M. Germain
TechNewsWorld
February 13, 2004

Some security experts suggest the trend toward using hackers to test the
security of computer systems is changing. Thomas Patterson, the former
regional partner for Deloitte & Touche Security Services Group, likened
the practice of hiring ex-hackers to placing a fox in a henhouse.

For years there existed a fuzzy distinction between good and bad
computer hackers. Black Hat hackers were known to crack into computer
systems for the challenge and the bragging rights. These miscreants took
great pleasure from wreaking havoc once they gained entry. White Hat
hackers, on the other side of the ethical line, broke into systems to
alert company officials to their ineffective security measures. As
concerns about network security  grew, computer security companies
sprung up and often recruited their experts from the ranks of the White
Hatters.

Law enforcement and government agencies in the recent past also relied
on programmers turned reformed criminals to test for security leaks and
help plug holes to keep out other intruders. IT managers sometimes had
to choose between the threat of Black Hat hackers breaking into the
system and White Hat hackers compromising the system for future personal
gain.
Some security experts suggest the trend toward using hackers to test the
security of computer systems is changing. Thomas Patterson, the former
regional partner for Deloitte & Touche Security Services Group, likened
the practice of hiring ex-hackers to placing a fox in a henhouse.

But new threats of hacker intrusion, data theft and cyberterrorism have
heightened concerns about network security. Increased government
regulations regarding customer privacy and data security are testing
business priorities. The result is the return of an old debate in
boardrooms over whether or not to hire hackers to catch hackers.

http://www.technewsworld.com/perl/story/32847.html

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