Public Address | Cafe | Speaker: Pipes: Understanding Hackers

Amberleigh Jack

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 09:19:12 +1300

Haha – Glad I could (inadvertently) help. Just read between the lines of villain-esque photos and sensationalist catch phrases :)
I do know what you mean – I've had the pleasure of reading a lot of either badly written or terribly misinformed/innacurate stuff over the years. It gets depressing.
Hope…

Amy Gale

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 04:40:28 +1300

Bless you, Amberleigh, for that reference to your brother. I know that wasn't your main point at all (and the interview is great, I didn't mean the interview wasn't great), but I had been having an extremely frustrating month looking for good material on embedded vulnerabilities and now I've FINALLY…

Russell Brown

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:57:52 +1300

I’ve been made aware of a bit of context – not that big a deal, but just so no one can say we left it out: Pipes formerly worked for the Dimension Data subsidiary that did the 2011 security audit that warned MSD of its problems. But he left soon…

Amberleigh Jack

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:44:50 +1300

Haha, maybe. Though I loved lego but never had the patience to make anything good. Perhaps that's the key :)

Andre Alessi

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:02:11 +1300

That was a pretty great interview.

izogi

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:00:06 +1300

He didn't get paid, the bank got the "message" and paid him fast, he deactivated the "bomb"

It might be effective but it's not very professional. I can't imagine it'd make others want to hire someone in future if word got around.

izogi

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:16:33 +1300

He rings them up and tells them and the next thing the AFP is knocking on his door. He wasn’t asking for money he just told them. It was still taken as him being a bad hacker.

I hadn't head of this one but it sounds like this guy and…

Paul Campbell

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:14:40 +1300

I have a neighbour who breaks into stuff for a living – not random other people's stuff mind you – people with new hardware, or in the process of buying someone else's hardware send them to him and he sees how easy it is to break into them – he's…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:06:16 +1300

flying sources...
Kaspersky – sorry can’t find the link right now.
try these on for sighs...-
Wired
or
Vanity Fair

and I see Stuxnet has now compromised US companies like Chevron...
Life is Karma...

...and if you'd like to read a 'Zero Day' cyber thriller fantasy set amidst the beautifully…

Kumara Republic

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:49:54 +1300

Ha, there’s a story about a guy in the very early days being paid a piece rate to write virus cleanup software.Unfortunately the supply of viruses dropped off and so did his income… so he took up writing viruses to ensure the money kept flowing.

The Broken Window Parable with…

Richard Aston

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:46:07 +1300

Years ago I contracted a coder who had worked on a big bank system who told me a story.
The bank was notorious for messing around with contractor payments so he planted a wee "bomb" in the code that he could activate if his invoice wasn't paid. It simply flashed…

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:43:07 +1300

snap erection...
As a lego kid, maybe I missed my calling.
Meccano ©, sigh...
Nuts! I'm screwed!

Richard Aston

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:40:54 +1300

Wow Rich , excellent paranoia.
I'd wondered the same thing. What about Kaspersky and rumours he has been hacking/cracking for the Russian military – sorry can't find the link right now.

Thomas Beagle

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:38:48 +1300

Ha, there's a story about a guy in the very early days being paid a piece rate to write virus cleanup software.Unfortunately the supply of viruses dropped off and so did his income... so he took up writing viruses to ensure the money kept flowing.

Brent Jackson

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:31:15 +1300

So, is Minecraft the new Lego ?

Sacha

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:52:44 +1300

Thanks Amberleigh. As a lego kid, maybe I missed my calling.

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:27:17 +1300

That John McAfee seems to be a dodgy character (not to mention mad as a bag of kittens). Does anyone think the early antivirus industry might have involved AV companies funding the virus writers?

Public Address

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:27:17 +1300

Discussion from blog post.