abstract
| - Hey there! I'm what you'd call a 'hacker' and I like to keep 'hacktive'. But please don't confuse me with those who wear darker hats than I. I am indeed, a 'white hat' hacker, as opposed to 'black hat' hackers, who worship the antichrist (Middle-aged bureaucrats in business suits who once did a bit of computing in BASIC, which as everyone knows is a stupid programming language) I don't know who came up with the distinction. But I do certain things which fall into the 'white hat' category. I don't actually wear a white hat while I'm hacking if you are wondering. For one thing, I use my computer indoors, so I'm not going to get wet, unless the guy sat opposite me drinks so much coffee and gets so absorbed in his task that he just forgets to go to the urinal. He wouldn't do that - not so much because he has any objection to urinating on me, but in doing so he'd be urinating on my terminal, and as a 'white hat' man himself he is ethically against the abuse of computer systems. 'White hats' are those of us who try to defend from attacks on computers, strengthening their security and defence. Sometimes I might have to break or exploit my own programs to see its flaws, but I'm legally obliged to do that, just as I'm legally allowed to break the window of my flat to get in if I've left my keys at my friends after a night of Manga and Burritos. I suspect that we have some 'black hats' working at my firm, and I'm not talking about the goth-chicks we employ (down to equal opportunities laws; most of them got 3rds in Computer Science). I have a friend who is an absolute whiz with computers, but has no morals...here he is:
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