USA Teaching 8-Year-Olds How to Be Hackers

[Usersname]

21st Century Hitler Youth

 

[eddieroolz]

Hell, if these kids have talent why not? I think Mitnick started hacking when he was a teen too.

 

[swamprat]

[citation][nom]gerchokas[/nom]Ethics and morals are a deep part of the culture, something you "develop" when you grow up.

"Would you steal something from a shop if there was noobody there, and you were sure that nobody would notice?"

Asking yourself that kind of question maturely, is how i believe you realize if you've learned about ethics..[/citation]

I wouldn't steal in those circumstances, if the shop keeper/assistant didn't return within a reasonable period I'd either leave money (if I could see somewhere to put it that Camizaki or someone similar couldn't just pinch it from) for what I wanted to not take it and just grumble and leave without buying anything.

I find it a bit frustrating where people assume an answer to that question - where you've got politicians claiming false expenses etc "you would do it too if you could do without getting caught" - no I wouldn't. Pah.

It's good to see people being encouraged to think, hopefully the conference isn't just a waste of their time leaving everyone a bit disappointed.

 

[Rusting In Peace]

I'm amazed that only one person has mentioned China so far! I'd be willing to bet people would be up in arms if this was the Chinese.

This is really weird that it's just 8 to 16. There must be a wider audience for this regardless of which country it's run in.

 

[anonymous32111]

Conference seems pretty cool.. can only see these skills being abused down the road however lol. Not sure how many "White Hats" you will see when said 8 year olds start going through adolescence.

Man i was thinking that giving iPads to children was ridiculous, however with all the recent DDoS, and attacks on various things, I would hate to see an even more skilled and immature LuLzSec and Anonymous or whatever. Giving kids Apple would surely keep them less deadly. maybe. hopefully.

 

[millerm84]

That said, teaching and recruiting adolescents that can't even drive should show just how desperate things have become in securing our private, sensitive data.

I understand that it's a recruiting tool, that may seem desperate because of their ages, but how many 8-16 year olds are
scouted for sports at the next level at these ages? Why should the next generation of bright young admins/hackers not be scouted at younger ages when did professional athletes become so much more important then the people securing our networks?
I think it's amazing that the Defcon organizers waited this long to not include this age group, who at this time in their lives is looking for direction and can become engrossed in the idea of being apart of this field.

 

[strapmonkey]

Despite my earlier crack, PudgyChicken has a good point. For the youth of Las Vegas (in particular) and America (more generally), this is absolutely an opportunity to learn a skill other than how to deal blackjack or greet at WalMart (not that there's anything wrong with those, but it's nice to have a fallback skill).

Enjoy, PC. I hope this opportunity leads to others for you, and everyone else your age who partakes. And many thanks for the reality check. Sometimes it's
easy to lose the forest for all the damn trees in the way. In America today, opportunity is rare, and becoming rarer still.

Far be it from me to admonish you for behavior you haven't committed, and I'm sure you already know what I'm about to say; use your power for the good of all. Don't judge others. Don't spread false witness. If the only thing that motivates you in any pursuit in life is the phrase "What's in it for me?", it's time to reconsider either your motive or the pursuit itself.

Of course, try as I might, I fail at these noble intentions on a regular basis. But I try to keep them in mind. Always.

 

[brucen13]

FYI...
Your battleground reference shouldn't have included LulzSec. They disbanded as a group last Saturday, as reported in the media.

 

[brucen13]

[citation][nom]captaincharisma[/nom]well, at least it looks like the US is starting to teach there kids something in school's again...[/citation]

Hopefully they are teaching better grammar! LOL

 

[fir_ser]

This is a nice approach, but I wonder if some of these kids will end up becoming black hats.