http://blogs.aljazeera.net/europe/2010/09/19/hackers-meet-geeks-paradiseAway from the elegance of Budapest's historic centre, a dingy rock venue has been turned into a geek's paradise. The laptop screens glow in the dim light as fingers flicker quickly over keyboards. Lines of code, incomprehensible to all but the cognoscenti, are typed out.
This is Hacktivity - an annual conference for hackers. They've come in their hundreds from all over eastern Europe and beyond. The organisers have set up two days of workshops, talks, and games so the hackers can hone their skills. In one game, the players have to race to break into a computer application designed to censor websites.
Illegal? Not here. The company that made the technology is actually here to oversee its vandalism. Cisco Systems, McAfee, Symantec ... some of the biggest names in computer security are at Hacktivity to court the hackers. Their branding is all over this event.
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Most of them I spoke to here call themselves 'White Hat' hackers. That means they use their skills to expose flaws in software, and then point the weaknesses out to vendors so they can be fixed. Or, they work with companies strengthening their cyber defences against data theft, fraud, or sabotage.
On the dark side are the 'Black Hat' hackers. Their behaviour can range from the relatively harmless, like leaving mischievous calling cards embedded in networks they've infiltrated, to bringing down the financial and communications systems of whole governments. This actually happened in Estonia in 2007. The attack is believed to have come from Russia.
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After finishing my television report for the channel and sending it back over the internet, I am approached by one of Hacktivity's organisers. He looks concerned. "I think you'd better ask Al Jazeera to put some new passwords in place," he says. "There are a lot of hackers round here."
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just so you know
if we don't keep up we can't comment
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