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Takedown (1995)

takedown.com

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Re: Takedown (1995)

#6

Thanks, this is nostalgic. I remember reading this several times back around 1996. Mitnick felt like a hero to me back then.

To me too in a way. It all looked cool. It was only later then I started to see the way we valorize bad actors as a bad thing about culture. Someone who does bad things is automatically treated as smarter then someone who has good ethics and cares about his impact on others.

Re: Takedown (1995)

#8
post #6

Thanks, this is nostalgic. I remember reading this several times back around 1996. Mitnick felt like a hero to me back then.

To me too in a way. It all looked cool. It was only later then I started to see the way we valorize bad actors as a bad thing about culture. Someone who does bad things is automatically treated as smarter then someone who has good ethics and cares about his impact on others.

I'm not even "why idealize hackers". I remember being a teenager too. I'm saying, why Mitnick? What about his M.O. was ever interesting?

Re: Takedown (1995)

#9
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me too in a way. It all looked cool. It was only later then I started to see the way we valorize bad actors as a bad thing about culture. Someone who does bad things is automatically treated as smarter then someone who has good ethics and cares about his impact on others.

I'm not even "why idealize hackers". I remember being a teenager too. I'm saying, why Mitnick ? What about his M.O. was ever interesting?

Were there others as high profile at the time? He might have just been the first widely known when “hacking” and the Net was new for a lot of people.

Re: Takedown (1995)

#10
post #8
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me too in a way. It all looked cool. It was only later then I started to see the way we valorize bad actors as a bad thing about culture. Someone who does bad things is automatically treated as smarter then someone who has good ethics and cares about his impact on others.

I'm not even "why idealize hackers". I remember being a teenager too. I'm saying, why Mitnick ? What about his M.O. was ever interesting?

I don't know, honestly. Likely the way he was written about more then what he did. I went by pop descriptions, uninformed irc debates, the book, etc, so I think that any answer to your question is more cultural then technical/factual.

The way hacking or lying your way somewhere seemed to be socially proof of ones superiority and something admired by others. For a time I really thought there is something aspiring and cool about hacking. And that people who do it are all definitely inherently smarter then me, but it kinda felt bad to try and my parents would be disappointed so I never tried. I had not the same impression about other types of crime. And it stopped the moment I had closer light weight contact with that culture.

Oddly, i simultaneously believed that techies are inherently more ethical them "managers" and "politicians". I did not even wanted to believe that veev could be nazi, so strong the bias toward hacker in trouble therefore cool was.

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