cowboyhat.pngI love watching the old westerns because it is always so easy to know the good guys from the bad guys. The good guys wore the white hats and the bad guys wore the black hats. Very simple.

The computer community has recognized this distinction and has applied it to hackers. Since the media has (incorrectly) determined that hackers are bad, the hacking community will often refer to whitehats or blackhats.

Bob Beck is apparently a whitehat. In the Edmonton Journal article To catch a hacker, get a hacker, Bob is described as the person who tried to, in the past, break into the system that he now helps protect from hackers.

This is becoming a more common practice in the IT industry. Hiring whitehat hackers to help secure your network from blackhats. There are some very definite advantages to this. Some include:

  • Hackers know how blackhats think. They can more easily anticipate how people will attempt to take advantage of your vulnerabilities.
  • Hackers are computer people. They love what they do and this is their life. Even when they are not in the office, they are working on computers. Your company will benefit from this extra work.

But, be aware that there may be risks. Blackhats can pose as whitehats and not everyone agrees that the benefits outweigh the risks. The hackers often do not fit well into a corporate environment.

You really need to do your homework on this issue. Here are some hacker hiring resources:

So, what do you think? Should you hire a hacker? Have you hired a hacker? What was your experience?

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Tim Fehlman