The Real Hackers.

Data real-lies
Sep 3, 2018 · 8 min read
“person wearing black and red hoodie holding smoke bomb” by Warren Wong on Unsplash

This guy is going to Leetcode your IP until it VPN’s your browser bandwith

FEAR THE HACKERS! they are coming for your DATA!

fake statistics get posted about hackers all the time.

Someone somewhere is gritting their teeth at my choice of photo. A person holding a smoke bomb. And that’s exactly my point. The photo is silly in that context as is the stigma surrounding hackers.

But in between the colored hats of white and black, people forget that not everything is white and black, and not all hackers are evil people out to get your bank data.

There’s girl hackers. there are guy hackers. There are transgender, gay and hell for all we know ether's alien hackers. (that’s why hackers wear the black hoodies!)

But to understand what happened: lets first understand what we are working with.

What IS a hacker?
Ask Google, Duckduckgo or *coughs* bing..

and they will all serve up images of shady characters with dark hoods, in full BDSM gear while multiple monitors display matrix graphics.

According to Wikipedia

A computer hacker is any skilled computer expert that uses their technical knowledge to overcome a problem. Wikipedia

That doesn’t sound so bad does it>?

to break this down further let’s look at the underlying description of some popular hacker labels.

Social Hackers

Social hacking describes the act of attempting to manipulate outcomes of social behavior through orchestrated actions. Wikipedia

Social hackers are people who understand peoples weakness..is themselves. A social hackers knows how to talk to other people, knows what makes them tick and knows what to sat to give themselves higher access in systems or situations.

Script Kiddies

Script kiddies simply aren't hackers. They can learn to be for being a script kiddie simply means you have access to a web browser and a knowledge on how to open files. These people rely on programs other people have made, and generally cannot do any real long-term damage.

White Hat, Grey Hat, Black Hat, A bunch of other colors..

Most of the ‘’other colored hats’’ fall under this category of Security Hackers

A security hacker is someone who seeks to breach defenses and exploit weaknesses in a computer system or network. Wikipedia

White Hat: Government hackers work for payment for their state. (mostly)

White hackers work towards closing bugs and locating possible breaches sometimes for a monetary reward, sometimes for fun.

Grey Hat hackers may do the same thing but they might inflict damage, or they may become a black hat. This definition is lose for a reason.. it’s a grey area.

And black hackers.. well

Black hackers make up the justifications of the market fear.

Black hat hackers create viruses for the purpose of stealing money, breaking into systems for financial gain and causing real damage.
Black hat hackers are admittedly why the general population is so misinformed about hackers in general.

Because no one teaches you about hackers.

it’s something you learn in movies and watching other peoples reactions. Its something you come across as when a mass data breach occurs or when YOU are impacted. it’s something you learn about when traffic lights stop working, power goes down or prices raise.

At no point in any school does the teacher say

‘’okay class it’s time to learn about hackers!’’

just like school does not teach you how to balance a checkbook, wash dishes, or anything related to real world scenarios that relate to the actual world you exist in today..

school does not teach you about the hackers you fear.

And it’s very possible that while you sit in school trying to remember the names of a battle, someone in the corner underneath a hood is having a battle with themselves writing out the framework their finders are itching to put into action when the bell rings.

Because it’s the social outcasts who become the real hackers. The coders who wonder what would happen if a string was used a certain way, who doesn’t take security at it’s face value and sees how something could be used in the future.

No one else will think about a hacker until they want a password reset, or a virus somehow got into their computer because they were watching midget porn.

and it’s between this time that those real hackers learn what they can truly do. Reading codes anyone could if they wanted to, building their own designs, and attacking things they are curios about.. if only to tear it all down and start again.

Building programs to kick people off the internet, and posting it online for other people to download.

forcing printers to print ASCCI robots that say ‘’for the love of god close this port’’

Changing street signs to read GODZILLA ATTACK! TURN BACK!

Breaking into a news broadcast in a goofy mask to paddle their bum with a flyswatter and rap (Max Headroom)

These are all things real hackers have done.

Hackers are not evil beings bent on breaking into your instagram account and deleting your photos.. They are people who take the time and effort to learn how systems work then use that knowledge however they choose to.

While it’s true that some people really are bad and want to watch things burn, the same could be said for.. lawnscapers!

in 2015 Jason Falbo was jailed after running over ducks with a lawn mower. intentionally. and laughing while doing so. really horrible stuff

I would like to think most of the population would not laugh while mowing down duckies. But while this one terrible incident was a travesty of animal cruelty, you and I can still buy a lawn mower.

There’s nothing stopping you from going into the local home improvement store and buying the newest model of mower, aside from funding.

And no one there is going to place you through a duck mowing assessment form before helping load the mower on your attached trailer.

So why are people so scared of hackers?

why does ebery search of one bring up photos that look like they belong in a horror firm?

Why is every single hacker portrayed in a bad light?

IGNORANCE & MONEY.

Hackers are the pioneers of the future. Constantly breaking things, to see how far it can break. How fast it can break How long it can break.

Most people simply prefer to…be. Willfully, blissfully ignorant. And there is serious money in ignorance.

Businesses can be squeezed for more money if they fear an attack. And what easier to sell then the unbeatable, invisible enemy you are unequipped to fight?

What better boogyman then the hacker!
The evil entity who can bypass any firewall, break your security system, suck the text messages and photos from your phone, and shut down your company with the press of a button!

“depth of field photography of man playing chess” by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

it’s a game where many companies win.

And TV shows snap this stuff up.
What better role to push the actors into, then the hacker who steals your data?

Just like people will pay for useless protection plans that do nothing more then drain their wallet, multiple groups of people gain money from the representation of a evil entity with absolute power.

From Alarm systems, to banks, to even your own cell phone company

the idea of a evil hacker means more money.

Over power grids, electronics, data.. nothing is safe.

Or so they want you to think.

A real hacker will tell you the truth, but the truth might scare you more than a hacker.

That $500 safe you bought can be opened by dropping it, your cell phone password is pretty useless, and most alarm systems aren't designed to protect you.. they are deigned to sell.

Your instagram account is not worth breaking into, your text messages are boring as hell, and facebook is one gigantic keylogger that you willfully enter ALL your personal info into for anyone to read so quit using that %$@

But I digress.. Back to the topic at hand A hacker means more income for many companies.
And while hacking really can be a legimite threat (because bad hackers do exist)

Most companies don’t really need Cyber Insurance. They need to quit plugging in random flash drives found by their car.

If you want further proof that the hacker schtick is a cock of flaming bull, go to your local Office Max or Office Depot.

There’s a endcap set up with a box that promises to

PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM HACKERS!!

it’s called Recon Sentinel Cybersecurity and it’s the biggest piece of garbage I have seen.

This expensive box promises to for a annual fee mind you connect to your modem and stop hackers.

First off NO. Dont ‘’connect things to your modem’’

doing so means they intercept ALL data, which I have no dought is being repackages and resold.

Second it’s a bloody Rock64 single board computer

For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a a board you can buy online for less than $40 Read the thread about this here

Third it’s so bad that even store employees have no idea how to sell the thing. or ring it up for sale

Here you can see them complaining about the product, Ripping out it’s speaker

Putting packing tape over the display

‘‘losing’’ ’’the SD card that goes into it

and straight up bringing a SD card in to work that they downloading a file to reduce the sales displays volume

The intro video looks like it was created by a intern But that doesn't stop the fact that this is a real product sitting in the store That exists purely to prey on the minds of those who don’t know better.

Now you might at thing point think woaah. Whats this got to do with hackers? I’m WAY off topic.

No I’m not. There is right now a physical box you can buy and then pay a subscription fee, that most likely probably definitely is selling all your data…
that exists purely to keep you safe from the big bad hackers.

Meanwhile their website gives you no info on what the thing really does other than they disabled the USB port for future development (riiiight and that has nothing to do with it’s easier to dump the devices code and see what it does though USB I suppose.)

ANYWAY.

If this kind of device is sold in plain view, it simply reinforces the point of this post. That not all hackers are evil overloads who want your data.

In fact hackers can be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet.
Attend Defcon one day and you either will walk away with a newfound fascination on how things work.. or you might go screaming for your life when the veils of security fades away.

either-way.

in the words of Obama and Jordan Peele

Stay Woke Bitches.

Data real-lies

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We are all a little mad. Welcome to the other side. A privacy advocate exploring the reality and lies in raw data.

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