Comments on: Former Hostage Terry Waite Pleads Pentagon Hacker’s Case http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/former-hostage-terry-waite-pleads-pentagon-hackers-case/ Internet Safety, Windows Updates, Internet News, and More Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:01:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Bill Cole http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/former-hostage-terry-waite-pleads-pentagon-hackers-case/#comment-987128 Bill Cole Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:57:15 +0000 http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/?p=2364#comment-987128 The US government has caused McKinnon to be taken far more seriously than he should have been, and has turned what should have been a ridiculous and almost trivial case (at least for everyone other than McKinnon) into a giant mess. By blowing the whole affair out of proportion, they've turned yet another 3rd-rate hacker into a folk hero for a bunch of people who don't quite understand what he did but can readily understand that he is being threatened with far worse than he can possibly deserve. Perversely, McKinnon will probably end up on the other end of this ordeal in a far better spot professionally than his demonstrated skills, judgment, and ethics could possibly justify. The best career option for a black-hat hacker without serious technical talent is to get caught by self-important blowhards who cannot admit their own errors. You can bet that in a decade, McKinnon will be doing "security consulting" for people too stupid to be trusted with cash. The US government has caused McKinnon to be taken far more seriously than he should have been, and has turned what should have been a ridiculous and almost trivial case (at least for everyone other than McKinnon) into a giant mess. By blowing the whole affair out of proportion, they’ve turned yet another 3rd-rate hacker into a folk hero for a bunch of people who don’t quite understand what he did but can readily understand that he is being threatened with far worse than he can possibly deserve. Perversely, McKinnon will probably end up on the other end of this ordeal in a far better spot professionally than his demonstrated skills, judgment, and ethics could possibly justify. The best career option for a black-hat hacker without serious technical talent is to get caught by self-important blowhards who cannot admit their own errors. You can bet that in a decade, McKinnon will be doing “security consulting” for people too stupid to be trusted with cash.

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