Hacker and XS4ALL founder Rop Gonggrijp of Wikileaks fame addressed the Hack in the Box audience last week and stated that:
- hackers and security experts need to save the internet, the right to privacy and freedom of the press because companies and government leaders are clueless;
- you do not need to know how to build a bridge, airplane, car or utility company to realize that a regulator is needed to prevent things from going wrong. Currently there is no regulator in the online environment;
- most things are being made by programmers who do not understand security and what they make is never being tested;
- lots of companies sell security products but do not understand what it is that needs to be secured;
- when problems arise, people look at governments to jump in and take action. Governments want so come across as being helpful. Then they want to control what it is that people do online, either because of their own motives or because they’re being influenced by the entertainment industry. Or they believe that a Cyber Czar will make a difference or they provide Obama with a button to turn off the internet. According to Gonggrijp it is easier to have that button turn things off than it is to have it turn things on;
- Many leaders try to come across as decisive but they have no clue what is going on. “Right now it is up to the hackers to prevent computerdisasters from happening”, the most famous Dutch hacker says. As the internet becomes more important the role hackers play will go beyond security but it also involves civil rights and freedom of the press.
(Dutch language article)
http://security.nl/artikel/33756/1/Gonggrijp%3A_hackers_moeten_internet_redden.html
Background material
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rop_Gonggrijp
http://e
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikileaks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XS4ALL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_vs._the_Internet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chanology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group
)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRQ
http://www.hackinthebox.org/
