To Catch A Geek...
So how does the Big G Federal Government garner the support and interest of the generally anti-establishment hacker community to rally to the cause of national security and defense of American interests and assets? Do you lure them in with bait like the implied promise of open access to government server banks and resources? How do you deal with the major culture gap?
This article really comes to the point saying:
The hacking culture is antiestablishment, and the United States is the establishment, the Microsoft of geopolitics. That’s a boon to Russian and Chinese government efforts to recruit hackers to their side, but it will hurt the United States, Carr says. A hacker wants “to align with the underdog against the big, bad U.S., and it’s going to be hard to reverse that,” he says.The notion of cyber-security games are truly interesting, because take it from a former basement-lurker - LAN parties (or what my friends used to casually call Geekfests) are some serious fun. Imagine what a government sponsored LAN party would be like? Tax dollars paying for Jolt cola and horrible snack foods? I’d be there.
The Department of Defense trains only about 80 cybersecurity experts a year, far fewer than what are most likely needed. “People in the Pentagon know that the guy who looks good in a flight suit and can do 100 push-ups isn’t necessarily the guy who will be the world’s best hacker,” says Noah Shachtman, editor of Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog, who has briefed Pentagon officials on cyberwarfare. “So they know they have to reach out beyond traditional military recruiting models to find the top people. They’re not sure exactly how to do it, though, and this is one attempt.”
I call it a good bid.