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 Thursday February 10 9:08 PM ET

 In Hacker World, Disdain for Web 'Vandals'

 By Dick Satran

 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Even in the computer hacker community, the group that carried
 out the raids on major Web sites this week was seen as beneath contempt.

 On bulletin boards populated by self-proclaimed hackers, the attackers are derided as ``script
 kiddies'' or ``packet monkeys,'' the lowest form of hacker. Indeed, one of the most frequent
 comments was that ``They're not even hackers.''

 The hacking culture is a complex weave of technically-skilled and alienated individuals that has
 grown up around Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards. Many work in the tech industry, but
 sizable numbers are precocious young people who learn the trade from more seasoned hackers.

 Their heroes are smart, alienated types, like themselves. Ehud ``the Analyser'' Tenenbaum, who
 broke into Department of Defense computers, is one, and Kevin Mitnick, who was just released
 from prison after spending time for a series of high-profile break-ins, is another.

 The famed hackers gained esteem for their ability to penetrate hard-to-crack computer centers,
 by showing flashes of brilliance in exposing an unnoticed vulnerability or by making a clear
 anti-authority statement.

 In the hacker culture, the new wave of assaults was derided as kids ``playing with toys,''
 referring to software readily available over the Internet that lets users launch the so-called
 distributed denial of service attacks that hit this week.

 Hackers like to think of themselves as alienated geniuses who can dazzle others with their
 computer skills, which sometimes meant breaking into a site and letting the target known they'd
 been broached in a game of ``gotcha.''

 Their roots lie in the culture of computer time-sharing and collaborative software writing, in
 which pointing out a bug is how problems get solved. Breaking into a site followed that
 tradition, carrying it to a new level.

 ``Hackers solve problems and build things,'' says one pro-hacker site, ``and they believe in
 freedom and voluntary mutual help.''

 But computer experts say there is an emerging, and less visible school of self-absorbed,
 thrill-seeking hackers who don't follow the hacker ethic, looking only to do as much damage as
 they can, even if their is no technical feat to it at all.

 ``These are point-and-click attacks,'' said Mike Higgins of the computer security concern
 Para-Protect Inc. ``There are tutorials and tools on the Internet that are easy enough for just
 about anybody to use. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do this anymore.''

 At Hacker News Network (http://www.hackernews.com) a hacker information site, the editor of
 the service, known as Space Rogue, said, ``There really is no skill involved with denial of
 service attacks. When you use the term hack or hacker, you are talking about something unique
 or innovative.''

 But if the series of attacks that brought down Yahoo! Inc.(NasdaqNM:YHOO - news) ,
 Amazon.Com Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMZN - news) has failed to impress the traditional hacking
 community with its technical wizardry, some security experts were amazed by the high level of
 coordination involved in the attack.

 ``To bring down a site like Yahoo, with all of its available bandwidth, required tremendous
 coordination,'' said Aharon Friedman, a Tampa, Fla.-based computer consultant. ``One hacker
 couldn't have done it. I suspect it was an adult with an agenda, and a group of young people
 working in concert.''

 Visible e-commerce sites were their target, possibly suggesting an anti-business or anti-Internet
 commercialization bias, said Friedman.

 But the fact they were big and visible sites was reason enough to launch an attack because
 ``bringing down a big name site like CNN could make them feel powerful and smart,'' he
 added.

 In the broader culture or the business world, ``techies'' lose their social acceptability when they
 become ``too geeky,'' and hacking is one way to regain it, said Johnnie Long, senior network
 computer engineer for Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC - news). They are often kept from
 the frontline business operations, adding to the alienation. ''This is a way to exert power in the
 community,'' said Long, ''when a hacker can attack a multi-billion dollar site and take it off line,
 that's power.''

 As long as there are vulnerabilities in computer systems, Long said, somebody on the hacking
 food chain -- which runs from the casual experimenter to the dedicated professional criminal --
 will try to exploit them.

 Space Rogue, who has used his online handle in Congressional hearings and professionally as an
 anti-hacking consultant, finds the trend toward targeting e-commerce sites distasteful. ``Just
 taking down a Web site doesn't mean anything,'' he said. He doesn't give his real name.

 Indeed, one of the biggest publications of the hacking community, 2600 Magazine
 (http://www.2600.com) posted a note on its front of its Web site, saying ``Hackers to Blame.
 Doubtful.'' It argued that, instead, it's an excuse by the government to crack down harder on the
 ``legitimate'' hacking community with new restrictions and security measures.

 That fear echoed through sites like Linux open source site Slashdot (http://www.slashdot.org)
 where numerous posters saw it as an attempt by the government to expand its surveillance and
 control.

 Or as the hacker bible 2600 put it, ``Whoever is responsible is either completely clueless or
 knows exactly what they are doing. It's the latter that should concern hackers everywhere.''

 
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