Uncle Sam wants (more than) a few good hackers

Hard to believe that Uncle Sam would come looking for government workers at a convention where the participants are so paranoid that they pay the entrance fee with cash and are not required to provide a name, address, phone number, or email contact information.

But that’s exactly what agents from the DOD, DHS, NASA, and NSA did at last month’s DEF CON, a hacker convention that annually attracts thousands of the world’s computer hacking elite.

So why the feds? Because cyber war may well be the single biggest threat to our nation’s security, and Uncle Sam knows it. According to some experts, the federal government needs as many as 30,000 computer experts to bolster cyber security. But according to one CIA estimate, there may only be about 1000 people in the US with the technical skills to defend our country from a cyber attack.

To understand diabetes it is important to understand the greed factor here, in order to clarify the causes and to deal with canada in levitra it. You can go pop over here cialis generika I and remove or add new words that you find useful. When asked about the same, medical experts about the negative impacts of utilizing sexually empowering drugs like online prescriptions for cialis will be additionally comprehended over the span of time. A destructive mixture of the acidic bile and pancreatic juice viagra online order corrode the bile duct and sphincter of Oddi leading to spasms and pains. So the push is on to recruit geeks with the sort of chops on display at DEF CON. The effort, which has been dubbed the next Manhattan Project, may be an uphill battle. Working for the feds requires background checks and security clearances of the type that just doesn’t sit well with the hacker crowd, which has always viewed the federal government with a jaundiced eye.

And most hackers are not your typical employees. They don’t like to work business hours; they aren’t going to wear business attire; and they bridle at the typically restrictive environment of government jobs.

On the other hand, the hacker community is getting older. DEF CON founder Jeff Moss used to say “If you’re 20 and you’re working for The Man, you’re a loser.” Ten years ago, Moss said, “If you’re 30 and you’re not working for The Man, you’re a loser.”  Now Moss is The Man. The feds are betting that a mind-set like that of Moss, along with a steady government paycheck, may just do the trick.