![]() Sponsored by the National Assembly of Hackers last week, teenage Passed, hackers like Ian Restil will continue to enjoy a certainĮxalted status-particularly among their peers. It remains to be seen who will win, but, until new laws are The National Assembly of Hackers to lobby against the law. Internet-based Businesses has actually formed a task force with To patch holes in their security systems. It seems they don't like the proposed law,Įither, because they're worried they'll be stuck with no legal way Less predictable, however, is the opposition of companies that "Really, hackers have to put in a lot of sunkĬosts before they find the one that's broken and get paid," saysįrank Juliet, the group's president. Have their own group-the National Assembly of Hackers-to lobbyĪgainst the new law. Themselves as "freelance security investigators," and they ![]() Not surprisingly, hackers hate the proposed legislation. Making a career out of something that's simply immoral." "This is just like prostitution," says Julieįarthwork of the anti-hacker Computer Security Center, which Of something called the Uniform Computer Security Act, which wouldĮffectively criminalize immunity deals between hackers andĬompanies-while imposing stiff penalties on the corporations who Little wonder, then, that 21 states are now considering versions Shopping spree-all in exchange for showing them how to improve It let him keep the money, then threw in a $1,500 Instructed it to credit his Visa card about $500 per day.Īccording to Nevada officials, the boy racked up more than $32,000 in credit before he was caught-but the store wouldn't pressĬharges. Hackers." The state took to the airwaves shortly after a hackerīroke into a regional department store's computer system and Shoplifter to watch the cash register? Please don't deal with Ran the following radio advertisement: "Would you hire a In March, Nevada law-enforcement officials got so desperate they "We can't arrest or prosecute most hackers, becauseĬorporate victims are refusing to come forward. Paralyzed right now," explains Jim Ghort, who directs the Centerįor Interstate Online Investigations, a joint police project of 18 ![]() Law-enforcement officials, in particular, complain that dealsīetween companies and their online predators have made prosecution It'd be a shame if somebody broke into it. That's an awfully nice computer network you Of course, a cynic might say hacker schemes look an awful lot like Maker paid Harris $1 million, a monster truck, and promised "freeĪgency"-meaning he can quit and work for a competitor at any A failed basketballĪgent, Joe Hiert got into the industry when one of his son'sįriends, 21-year-old Ty Harris, broke into an Internet securityįirm three years ago and came to him for advice. Represent nearly 300 of them, ages nine to 68. Ian's agent, whose business card isĮmblazoned with the slogan "super-agent to super-nerds," That hacker agents now advertise their commissions on websites.Ĭomputer Insider, a newsletter for hackers, estimates that aboutĩ00 recreational hackers were hired in the last four years byĬompanies they once targeted. Indeed, deals like Ian's are becoming common-so common, in fact, And he knew this because the same thing had happened to Pay him to fix their database-than it would be to have engineersĭo it. He knew that Jukt would determine it was cheaper to hire him-and In deep trouble," says his mother, Jamie Restil. Principal told us to hire a defense lawyer fast, because Ian was That's when the company came to Ian's Bethesda, Maryland,Īnd Ian, clever boy that he is, had been expecting them. Past the company's online security system, he posted everyĮmployee's salary on the company's website alongside more than aĭozen pictures of naked women, each with the caption: "the big badīionic boy has been here baby." After weeks of trying futilely toįigure out how Ian cracked the security program, Jukt's engineers In March, Restil-whose nom de plume is "Big Bad BionicĬomputer at his high school library to hack into Jukt. What's more amazing, though, is how Ian got Jukt's attention-by breaking into its databases. It's pretty amazing that a 15-year-old could get a big-time software firm to grovel like that. Then, you can buy the book, and then, when you're of more, say, appropriate age, you can buy the car and pornographic magazines on your own." "Excuse me, sir," one of the suits says, tentatively, to the pimply teenager. Across the table, executives from a California software firm called Jukt Micronics are listening-and trying ever so delicately to oblige. Show me the money! Show me the money!" Over and over again, the boy, who is wearing a frayed Cal Ripken Jr. I want a lifetime subscription to Playboy, and throw in Penthouse. Ian Restil, a 15-year-old computer hacker who looks like an even more adolescent version of Bill Gates, is throwing a tantrum.
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