* subscribe at http://techPolice.com thanks Kelley *********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** On 6/15/2001 at 11:45 AM Kelley Walker wrote: > 'Ethics challenge' softens hacker con > > Cyber Ethics contest will join Hacker Jeopardy and Spot the Fed at DefCon. > By Kevin Poulsen > May 31, 2001 4:59 PM PT > > Summer is approaching, and with it the annual Bacchus of silicon and beer > known as the DefCon hacker convention. But this year, for the first time, > a > kinder, gentler DefCon will reward righteous and upstanding behavior as > much as computer intrusion skill, with a contest that challenges > attendees' > sense of "cyber ethics". > > Call it a sign of the times. Last year, the increasingly mainstream > convention drew over four thousand people: hackers, security > professionals, > law enforcement and intelligence agents, along with scores of reporters > from around the world. Now in its ninth year, the 2001 conference will > take > place July 13th through 15th in Las Vegas, and the convention hotel is > already fully booked. > > In addition to detailed technical presentations, tee-shirt sales and > all-night partying, DefCon is renown for its games, like the "Social > Engineering Competition", in which hackers show off their talent at > conning > people into divulging confidential information over the phone; the > hard-core "Capture the Flag" game, where they compete to crack each > others' > machines; and the perennial favorite, "Spot the Fed." > > Into this mix comes "CyberEthical Surfivor" (Surf-ivor, a pun). The > brainchild of veteran infowar proselytizer Winn Schwartau, the > competition > is inspired by his new book "Internet & Computer Ethics for Kids," a > comically illustrated child-friendly tome that Schwartau says he wrote > after catching his youngest son hacking into a neighbor's computer. > > CyberEthical Surfivor will pit two teams of nine hackers head-to-head in > a > public struggle with weighty moral decisions. Example: You are > seventeen-years-old, about to graduate to an Ivy League university when a > vindictive teacher monkey-wrenches your academic dreams by wrongly > flunking > you on a final exam. The Principal won't listen to you. Should you crack > the school's computer and give yourself the grade you deserve? > > The rules of the contest are patterned after the CBS reality game show > "Survivor," with a dash of NBC's flagging British-import "The Weakest > Link." The audience will help judge the ethical quality of the teams' > answers, with losing sides forced to vote off one of their own after each > round. A panel of celebrity judges will settle disputes, with Schwartau > himself filling the Jeff Probst / Anne Robinson role. > > "Everyone I've talked to, from feds to academia to the hacking community > says its going to be great," says Schwartau. > > Unlike less warm-and-fuzzy DefCon competitions, losers will not be > obliged > to swill beer or remove articles of clothing. In the end, only one > ethically-pure ultimate "Surfivor" will remain standing, winning $800 in > "cyber ethics" material to donate to the school of his or her choice. > > If the setting is odd, the contest's timing couldn't be better. Security > experts and law enforcement officials are increasingly blaming lack of > ethics training in school for a glut of computerized hack attacks > performed > by teens. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Information > Technology Association of America (ITAA) even launched a "Cybercitizen > Partnership" to help educators influence the behavior of America's > youngest > netizens, and a National Conference on CyberEthics met last October in > Arlington, Virginia. > > But will soul searching and ethical self-examination fly in the red-hot > center of cyberpunk culture? "I'm trying to inject something new into > DefCon, absolutely," says Schwartau. "But I'm not trying to teach ethics. > We just want to expose the issues." > > > Want to link to this article? Use this URL: > < http://www.securityfocus.com/news/211 > > > > > > *********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** ===========================================================Buy shoes at Zappos.com, the web's most popular shoe store. Known for its selection and attentive customer service. Zappos offers a 60-day, money-back guarantee. http://click.topica.com/caaabQJb1dhr0b2EDp2f/Zappos =========================================================== --via http://techPolice.com archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --via http://theMezz.com ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1dhr0.b2EDp2 Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
