6 ms·

> "He was a hacker-turned-security consultant who, later in life, helped shape the modern white-hat." They left out convicted criminal.

firefax 3mo ago
I have so many stories about his absolutely terrible behavior at conferences. He once refused to pay the entry fee to a charity event and had to be physically ejectedy. Absolutely better at PR than any actual work, pay careful attention and none of his early stuff was particularly novel, from a technical perspective. But for whatever reason, we venerate him just because he was victimized by the state. The world is not a dichotomy -- sometimes bad things happen to bad people.
- colechristensen 3mo ago
  He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. If he had been treated fairly by the justice system he wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention. He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens.
  - firefax 3mo ago
    >He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. That was uncalled for on the part of DOJ. >He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens. I'm autistic. Maybe I should go commit a bunch of felonies to increase my chances of a good job and stature in the hacker community, since things like publishing code, publishing peer reviewed papers, and mentoring newbies have not been productive ways of finding gainful employment nor respect of my peers. I have friends who did things like take a gap year to travel the world or met their spouses on nights I stayed in to study, and some evenings when browsing HN I feel very sad that I wasted my 20s on a society that does not care about me. Anyways, sorry to wall of text, but what you said really struck a nerve with me -- there are hierarchies in any community, and one thing I've noticed with the hacker scene is one group of people can mess up over and over using the same sets of facts or diagnoses, but others can expect to have worse outcomes with better behavior for reasons that elude me to this day.
    - coryrc 3mo ago
      > I have friends who did things like take a gap year to travel the world or met their spouses on nights I stayed in to study, and some evenings when browsing HN I feel very sad that I wasted my 20s on a society that does not care about me. I'm glad you have finally recognized the problem. Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself.
      - firefax 3mo ago
        >Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself. Unfortunately, I exhausted my emergency fund trying for certs and attempting to escape a domestic violence situation, so I do not have that option. I'm trapped.
    - colechristensen 3mo ago
      Kevin was famous for being mistreated by the DoJ and writing some books which were perhaps not particularly true in hindsight. After he got out of jail and rejoined the community he lost a lot of respect for being himself, though it's not impossible that years of imprisonment and a long time in solitary had some permanent negative effects. In other words... you shouldn't envy Kevin's life. For the rest: nothing's stopping you from having fun, regardless of age.
    - lnxg33k1 3mo ago
      It's good that somewhere the quality of work is rewarded more than the quantity
    - user_of_the_wek 3mo ago
      Vienna waits for you
      - rcbdev 3mo ago
        Is Vienna the place to be for security researchers in their 30s starting to doubt their life choices?
ActorNightly 3mo ago
You act like thats a bad thing given the nature of his crimes. If more people strived to be like Mitnick today, the tech world would have a lot more power.

firefax 3mo ago

I have so many stories about his absolutely terrible behavior at conferences. He once refused to pay the entry fee to a charity event and had to be physically ejectedy. Absolutely better at PR than any actual work, pay careful attention and none of his early stuff was particularly novel, from a technical perspective. But for whatever reason, we venerate him just because he was victimized by the state. The world is not a dichotomy -- sometimes bad things happen to bad people.

colechristensen 3mo ago
He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. If he had been treated fairly by the justice system he wouldn't have gotten nearly as much attention. He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens.
- firefax 3mo ago
  >He got all of the "Free Kevin" attention because of how long he was left in jail before trial and then being stuck in solitary confinement after sentencing for months. That was uncalled for on the part of DOJ. >He was also autistic, a lot of the behavior can be explained through that lens. I'm autistic. Maybe I should go commit a bunch of felonies to increase my chances of a good job and stature in the hacker community, since things like publishing code, publishing peer reviewed papers, and mentoring newbies have not been productive ways of finding gainful employment nor respect of my peers. I have friends who did things like take a gap year to travel the world or met their spouses on nights I stayed in to study, and some evenings when browsing HN I feel very sad that I wasted my 20s on a society that does not care about me. Anyways, sorry to wall of text, but what you said really struck a nerve with me -- there are hierarchies in any community, and one thing I've noticed with the hacker scene is one group of people can mess up over and over using the same sets of facts or diagnoses, but others can expect to have worse outcomes with better behavior for reasons that elude me to this day.
  - coryrc 3mo ago
    > I have friends who did things like take a gap year to travel the world or met their spouses on nights I stayed in to study, and some evenings when browsing HN I feel very sad that I wasted my 20s on a society that does not care about me. I'm glad you have finally recognized the problem. Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself.
    - firefax 3mo ago
      >Stop living for your idea of others and start living for yourself. Unfortunately, I exhausted my emergency fund trying for certs and attempting to escape a domestic violence situation, so I do not have that option. I'm trapped.
  - colechristensen 3mo ago
    Kevin was famous for being mistreated by the DoJ and writing some books which were perhaps not particularly true in hindsight. After he got out of jail and rejoined the community he lost a lot of respect for being himself, though it's not impossible that years of imprisonment and a long time in solitary had some permanent negative effects. In other words... you shouldn't envy Kevin's life. For the rest: nothing's stopping you from having fun, regardless of age.
  - lnxg33k1 3mo ago
    It's good that somewhere the quality of work is rewarded more than the quantity
  - user_of_the_wek 3mo ago
    Vienna waits for you
    - rcbdev 3mo ago
      Is Vienna the place to be for security researchers in their 30s starting to doubt their life choices?

ActorNightly 3mo ago

You act like thats a bad thing given the nature of his crimes. If more people strived to be like Mitnick today, the tech world would have a lot more power.