Posted at 5:15 p.m. PST Sunday, March 28, 1998
IBM prepares to beat hackers at own game
Mercury News Staff Report
For the past two years, a stealth group of scientists within IBM
Research's Global Security Analysis Lab, in Hawthorne, N.Y., and Zurich,
has broken into more than 200 companies' corporate networks.
With their permission.
An Israeli teen's alleged assault on non-classified Pentagon computers has
made headlines lately, and overall, hacking attempts are up 16 percent in
the past year, IBM says. Because companies risk losing unknown millions if
they don't protect themselves, IBM has established a so-called ethical
hacking program, managed by Charles Palmer, a 14-year IBM veteran. It
analyzes how hackers could break into corporate systems, plus examines
ways to fend off attacks.
Palmer was in Tucson, Ariz., last week for the PC Forum conference, where
he spoke with Mercury News Staff Writer Jodi Mardesich. Here is an edited
transcript of their conversation:
Q: Isn't ''ethical hacking'' an oxymoron?
Charles Palmer
A: Originally, ''hacker'' was a badge of honor. It described a good programmer. In tech
crowds, we use ''cracker'' or ''intruder'' to refer to the destructive hackers. We chose the term
because we didn't want to call our program ''hackers for hire.'' We had to describe what we do, but
with a positive spin. We're not just going to poke you in the eyes. We want you to up your hands to
prevent it.
Q: Who are your hackers?
A: They're not a bunch of ex-hackers. They're physicists, computer scientists. These guys were just
minding their own business when someone started screwing around with their machines. They saw this as
a challenge. They got into it. We get hooked on the idea of chasing these problems and coming up with
defenses.
[snip...]
[Moderator: I remember seeing one advertisement by IBM. It said something
like "have 5 years legitimate hacking experience and no criminal record?
We want to talk to you". They do solicit 'hacker' types from what I
hear.]
-o-
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Received on Mon Mar 30 20:08:38 1998