Does hacking make you a better programmer?

Question

You heard about all the hackers you caught, and then you got an offer for the killers.

But then again, you've probably heard of IT workers who sabotaged their systems after being fired. Some people also argue that hacking is much easier than securing a system.

The question is, would a hacker hire you? And is a better programmer doing hacking?

Adding

The reason I ask is because I know a few people who were initially interested in programming due to a hack, and they seem to be fairly confident in their programming skills. As a result, it seems that people respect them as the best, but I always felt at least as capable, although I do not know how much to hack like them.

Answer 1

I would definitely hire a hacker, but I'm not sure that our definition of a hacker is identical. For me, a hacker is a passionate, manageable, treacherous jack-carpet that knows enough about everything to at least know where to look, how to do it. At my company, we regularly hire hackers as we do a lot of things with scripts and low-level Unixy (at least our team does.)

The question is whether you should hire a cracker. And it really depends on the job description, but as long as you trust him / her not to do anything illegal, I would hire if he or she is a good engineer. That’s all that really matters to me.

Answer 2

Much depends on the agreed definition of "hacker".

// Hackety hack hack.

;)

Consider: coder versus hacker versus cracker versus script kiddie versus jedi versus cyberpunk versus ninja versus code monkey versus reverse engineer versus criminal versus another person versus felon versus convicted felon vs suspect felon versus mastermind versus chaotic good characters versus chaotic villains versus dictators versus emperor versus rebels against terrorists against agents against non-reactors against copyright infringers; against copywriters; against spammers; against marketers. for example, telemarketing against the creators of spyware against the creators of computer viruses, etc. etc., for example.

Great programmers have definitely hacked into, in the sense of a Jedi. The Jedi rebelled against the empire, but were generally good, although not technically law-abiding.

Most great programmers are definitely associated with hackers in the romantic cyberpunk sense of the word, but being a hacker does not mean a lack of morality or ethics.

Some hackers may find that their conscience does not prohibit them from carrying out technological matters, that a general social consensus can be considered dubious at best, or worst reprehensible or worse, but literally illegal. Of course, free will exists.

Reverse engineers and crackers are usually better than your average cracker.

Personally, I would never hire anyone who, at least, did not know how to do reverse engineering. From my point of view, this is necessarily a good engineer. On the other hand, I consider myself a pretty veteran coder / manager and have seen an abnormally large number of instances that fully justify reverse engineering for corporate gain and / or avoid corporate death.

I never had a problem when I didn’t do cool / bold things that, as I know, I “could” do if I “really wanted”. Free time is a good instant reward for a moderate amount of laziness. Who wants to get away from one way to break the laws? Come on. I never determined what the criminal organization of ticks does, with the exception of the profit motive.

Much depends on what you consider to be "profit." What do you value. What do you win.

Not all hackers are criminals. In fact, the vast majority are not.

Someone who intends to remain a fierce criminal will probably not be the one you want to hire, but it depends on your situation. First, you may not even have the choice to hire a convicted criminal depending on your industry or your application. Are you in government

Then, if you are dealing specifically with security and counter safety and meeting, it is actually a requirement that you are really “smart like a fox” and that you have salt to outwit the fox, if you give the opportunity to accept such a mission .

Real masterminds never get caught. If they are ever caught, they will lose their former status as mastermind. Founders may be criminals, but not criminals, and you probably won't need to hire you for your bread. Probably some good inspirers. I dont know.

You want these Jedi. You want a ninja. You want cyberpunk. You want detectives. You need huge pancakes. You want people who can solve any problem and are not sure about the mistakes. You want people to know that something is really possible.

This is just code.

Highly developed logic systems consider all options. Thus, you will never find smart people to work for you who did not even think of doing something wrong throughout your life.

If you are looking for law-abiding citizens to work for you, it’s best to look for people who at least outwardly portray some kind of behavior that seems to imply a beautiful, general internal value system that tends to align with what you think about as usual. You never know what is going on in people's heads. Just because someone has never been caught does not mean that everything they do in their personal lives is completely legal, ethical or moral. But there are lines.

You probably do not want to hire people who do very bad things even at the right time. What you think is very bad can vary greatly.

So-called "ethical hacking" may not be illegal in your country, but it can still be unethical.

For the ego, for itself, for the family, for the country, for humanity, for the Earth, for the continuum of time / for God

For God / for the continuum of time-space, for the Earth, for humanity, for the country, for the family, for himself, for the ego

See also: Dungeons and dragon leveling.

See also: Religion

Typically, you want to hire people who comply with your “Agreement”, be it the government or some kind of criminal boss.

I consider myself a white / gray hacker. I used to make a black hat, I never got into it and did not plan to regularly engage in these types of activities.

Doing anything in your personal or professional life so that people can blackmail you or force you into jail is usually dumb, regardless of whether you are a criminal mastermind or a Jedi Knight or just want to hire him.

Blackmailing people or gathering information that can be used to blackmail people is the worst crime and certainly much worse than breaking any system.

I worked in e-mail newsletters, bulletin boards, banking services and had access to extremely ridiculous amounts of extremely sensitive data and wrote applications against this material. I could not do this, being the main prenatal brain.

Should you have access to a lot of data, sort of like asking if you need to have one ring from the Lord of the Rings. Only those you know are not interested in using it should have a high level of access.

I felt comfortable providing official professional access to large and large amounts of data, based on the premise that I could make the most of it myself in any case from the Internet for free, if I were in real binding. Mostly like it, why bother? What is bothering me? Who cares. I am the type of person who would not use the Ring even if I had it. That is why, as a rule, I had to share the burden on the side of Goodness and had to hope that the villains never got in and had to do their best to somehow make everything burdensome. Who is really buddy? I would like to think of you as my friend, not my enemy. I don't want you to go to jail for everything you did with some, and with some zeros. If you, however, ever directly or indirectly knowingly put people in life or freedom under threat, whether in the name of an empire or in the name of rebellion, be ashamed of you. Do not do this. The fact is that there are many systems on which the safety of people's lives directly depends. No bad people should control these systems. Not a single person who can ever go bad must manage these systems. Think about it. Should anyone have the keys to the kingdom?

Scala of Triumvir.

Multilingual rock systems.

"You will not know who to trust." -Sneakers

To create a truly secure system, do not trust anyone - not even yourself.

Also, never invite a vampire to your home.

Also, do not be like Mr. Smith of the Matrix.

Also, do not bite the hand that feeds you.

People are people. Find a heart to forgive.

Try to remember everything and never delete anything.

;)

Answer 3

I would be wary of hiring a hacker (simply because I would be careful in hiring anyone who engaged in criminal or quasi-criminal activities). I would look at hiring one (especially for reasons of network security) because they are familiar with finding holes that others usually do not have, so their experience in mastering systems can be integral to learning how to improve these systems.

Another question regarding hackers creating the best programmers ... is that true. There are so many different types of hackers that it would be hard to say if this would be a better programmer. You can argue that hackers can become good programmers, because an analysis-oriented mind translates well into the analytical mind needed by a good programmer.

Answer 4

These are two completely different questions, but it says:

Would you hire a hacker?

Seriously, why not? If your application is absolutely critical and security is of particular concern, this is a great way to check your application for security flaws.

Of course, the harder part is figuring out if the hacker is really the real thing or just a wanabe script kiddie.

In my country, a senator recently proposed a hacker competition to test our country's new automated polling system , and I think this is a great way to find weaknesses and build credibility in this system.

Does a better programmer do hacking?

Well, there are hackers, and there are script kids. The difference between the two is that the first one is really understandable when looking for flaws in the system, the other only uses known vulnerabilities using publicly available code.

If that doesn't sound familiar, it's exactly the same as the difference between Einstein and Mort.

In addition, many hackers follow some kind of ethic in which they swear so as not to harm - the kids just do not care and "just want to have fun."

Answer 5

I would not hire a "hacker" (in the sense, you mean: a suspected or convicted criminal) for one simple reason: if they are mentally and ethically flexible enough to attack one system to stop them from repeating, and when they do doing is my company and my reputation is on the line.

Does hacking make you a better programmer?

I agree with TheTXI that some features a hacker possesses can become a good programmer. These will include research ability, off-field thinking and logical analysis.

On the other hand, a “hacker" is usually not a player on a team. They often seek their own fame rather than the success of their company or product.

Answer 6

Just my experience in reverse engineering. I spent some time analyzing DLL entry points, analyzing raw data files, and sniffing packets.

I was able, through logic and some creative suggestion, to find out what happens on the wire and what the bits in the files mean. From there, I could capture a wired protocol or intercept external calls.

It was fun, it was difficult, but he decidedly NOT made me a better programmer. Didn't make me worse. Using weaknesses in compiled code is fundamentally different from good professional programming. I learned something about the surface area of ​​the program and attack methods, but then I had to translate them into the architecture of the program. It is more about structure than content.

What is important to me in a “good” programmer is that he is able to create code that is as complex as it should be, but no more. Being able to parse bits inside an IP packet in your head is a good and fun skill, but it doesn't say anything about your software development skills.

To answer the OP question, I would hire a hacker if they were good at writing software. I do not think this makes you a better programmer. This may help in the overall design of the system, but you can learn these lessons without the experience of being an attacker.

Answer 7

Hacking teaches you about incorrect software and presents you with pragmatic difficulties in developing secure software. On the first question, I would hire a hacker to check the security of my systems. I would most likely avoid hiring a famous hacker in projects involving HIPPA, PCI, or PII data.

Answer 8

It is much easier to bring down a sand castle than to build it.

The same goes for building software systems or criticizing legacy code.