I am an avid Maker, Hacker, and Researcher. I teach my kids to hack, pick locks, look things up, and question authority. I'm also the co-founder of ISECOM (www.isecom.org) and as Managing Director am directly involved in all ISECOM projects. In 2000, I created the OSSTMM (www.osstmm.org) for security testing and analysis. I am still the lead developer of the OSSTMM but have also lead the organization into new research challenges like Smarter Safer Better (www.smartersaferbetter.org), the Bad People Project (www.badpeopleproject.org), Hacker Highschool (www.hackerhighschool.org) and the Home Security Methodology (http://isecom.org/research/hsm.html). My strong interest in the properties of trust and how it affects us and our lives has led to developing trust metrics and through that have brought ISECOM more deeply into Human Security.
Authored Comments
The main reason we go with hacker is because it's internationally recognized and clear even if some people find it suspect. We find most people are confused about the word and not negative towards it. So we need to go with a word that is well understood outside the English-speakers, which is actually a small fraction of our users.
So we can't change the connotation of the word "hacker" for the masses but we can harness it. We use it not in complaint or defiance but because if want teens to be interested in something then we need to give it an interesting name and follow it up with language that's snarky and appealing to them.
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Thank you.
A hacker walks into a bar. Bartender say "We don't serve hackers here." Hacker goes back outside, buys a a commercial scanning tool and makes some business cards. He goes back inside and the Bartender says, "Hey, aren't you that hacker?" Hacker says, "No, I'm a security professional."
:)
Keep the dream alive!