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Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

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Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#141

Post by gunfighthacksaw »

dk79XuL9 wrote: post #97
Terry_Roll wrote: post #95

What was your motive?

My first offence occurred when I was 13 years old. I'd chalk it up to inexperience and a lack of ability to anticipate the consequences of my actions. I was really self-absorbed. I'm not the same person I was back then. It has almost been a decade.

Reminds me of a friend from my youth who started out pwning the school computers, and the last time I saw him in person (at age 18) we were in the local Apple store rolling our tits off on E when (without warning) he took down a large domain registrar from the demo laptops and we had to leg it.

Good times.

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#142

Post by throwawayHN378 »

Joe8Bit wrote: post #58

I've hired quite a few security folks in my time (some with criminal convictions) but my answer is an unhelpful one: it depends. If you have a criminal conviction it's unlikely you'll get through the screening process with a regulated business (like banking, insurance, pharma etc) due to some 'out of the hiring managers hands' constraints those industries have. I've seen exceptions to this in the past, where a senior…

What about for convictions like DWI?

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#143

Post by throwawayHN378 »

YesThatTom2 wrote: post #71

As someone who hires many people it comes down to whether or not you are humble about it. Or, to be more blunt: if you're as ass about it. Humble: "I have a bad thing on my record. I understand what I did wrong and want to move forward with my life, doing good work, and being a responsible citizen." Jerk: "I got busted but those jerks din't see that I was helping them! It was all BS, dude!" I'd gladly interview someo…

Tbh I’ve always found downplaying it works better

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#145

Post by throwaway675309 »

pjbeam wrote: post #128
JohnBooty wrote: post #38

I can't just walk into employment with my skillset because I'm not particularly talented Maybe in the world of cybersecurity where a lot of the talent is (from my outside perspective) pretty top end. For most tech industry jobs, you'll be way overqualified and the rest of the team will be in awe.

In my experience a huge proportion of security roles are filled with checklist cowboys/girls. The cadre of people you're thinking of is a small part of the set.

This is my experience as well, a lot of pen testers seem to be possessed of an overblown sense of self-importance because they possess the capability to install the Debian distro kali, can run the aircrack suite, and know how to use wireshark. Wowsers.

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#146

Post by abakker »

vageli wrote: post #134
abakker wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it might be fair to point out that just because they ran a BGC on you, doesn't mean your current employer told you they did. Background checks are incredibly common and the low-stakes kind are pretty cheap to just run ad-hoc.

Doesn't an employer need your consent to run a background check on you?

Ish? https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/background-checks-fa...

There seem to be some kinds of background check where maybe it is fine and others where it isn’t?

It looks like written permission is required, but, they can remove your candidacy for not accepting…so, it is not fully protected.

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#148

Post by sizzle »

Do crypto bug bounties, Saurik just got paid $2 mill for a bug bounty in the ethereum virtual machine (sp?)

No employer needed! Just a willingness to read code at a low level and deep understanding of smart contracts and curiosity to exploit them in seemingly impossible ways. I think you could top Saurik’s bounty with a little more focus and dedication! Try it out and retire early!

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#149

Post by bradwood »

DrBoring wrote: post #16
inetknght wrote: post #4

> I'm not particularly talented Stop telling yourself that. You wouldn't be #11 out of 25,000 if you weren't talented. As long as you're open about your past and convictions, and your legal standing permits employment doing the work you'd do, then there's nothing stopping you from applying. When you see a job posting then look at what the requirements are. If you fit more than half then you should apply. The things y…

> Stop telling yourself that. You wouldn't be #11 out of 25,000 if you weren't talented. I like this advice. I used to think I wasn't as good a programmer than a friend of mine because he had a larger breadth of skills than myself. Then I actually saw the code he was producing professionally ... and it was crap. It was functional sure, but not maintainable at all (if the business rules changed, then rewrites were awf…

I got punishment for messing about in class and was instructed to"write lines"...

Something along the lines of "I must learn to behave in class and listen to my teacher" 100 times...

I asked if I could type the lines rather than hand-write...

4 lines of BASIC later.

Re: Ask HN: Recent computer hacking convictions and employability?

#150

Post by Joe8Bit »

throwawayHN378 wrote: post #142
Joe8Bit wrote: post #58

I've hired quite a few security folks in my time (some with criminal convictions) but my answer is an unhelpful one: it depends. If you have a criminal conviction it's unlikely you'll get through the screening process with a regulated business (like banking, insurance, pharma etc) due to some 'out of the hiring managers hands' constraints those industries have. I've seen exceptions to this in the past, where a senior…

What about for convictions like DWI?

Sort of similar to the above, will rule you out of certain roles with certain businesses but if you're open and honest about it you'll be able to find something. The OP having computer hacking (and more importantly, fraud) on their record will make it harder than a DWI, as a DWI isn't something 'work related' (unless you drive for a living, obviously).

The amount of time passed is also something I've seen have an impact (e.g. if you had a DWI 20 years ago vs one 6 weeks ago)

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