Friday, November 21, 2003

Simson Garfinkel at Wired - CodeFellas: A mafia hacker tells his story to Wired - the story of a hacker for the mob. Sounds like an honest buck for an honest day's work to me. [smith2004] A few years ago, then FBI director Louis Freeh warned Congress that if encryption technology wasn't controlled, drug dealers, organized criminals, terrorists, and child pornographers would soon be using it to protect their records. Freeh was half right. We are using encryption, but we'd be using it even if it was illegal. The fact that it's built into the operating system just makes my job easier. So what's a nice techie like me doing in a place like this? I gotta be honest. For starters, I don't think there's anything wrong with gambling - it's a private, symmetrical transaction between consenting adults. By another name - lottery, casino, offtrack betting - this sort of operation is completely legal. And it's not like I'm shaking people down for protection money. Besides, I tried the dotcom thing and failed. Plus, here I'm appreciated: Organized crime is smart enough to know that it doesn't know tech. ... The fact remains that I could be pulling in $150,000 as a programmer on the open market. But I make a third of that. So why am I risking a prison sentence or the potential of a lifetime in witness protection for a job that doesn't make me all that rich? Simple: When you start making a lot of money, you get noticed by the biggest bullies on the block - the cops and the IRS - and I don't want that. I like living below the radar. I sublet a friend's apartment and pay his utility bills with money orders that I purchase at the post office or at one of those check-cashing storefronts. Because I get paid entirely in cash, I don't fork over any taxes. When you get right down to it, I'm an idealist. I don't condone the actions of the US government. By refusing to pay taxes, I withhold my financial support. And, truth be told, I like mobsters. They're more willing to accept you at face value. They aren't hung up on college degrees, or where you live, or how many criminal convictions you have. Yes, I am a hacker for the mob. And damn proud of it. [End the War on Freedom] 9:41:58 AM    comment ()

© Copyright 2006 Ken Hagler. Last update: 2/15/2006; 1:57:48 PM.