TED Talks on Hackers

by marlonsaares

http://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_fighting_viruses_defending_the_net.html

Mikko Hyppönen’s TED talk from 2011 focuses on how internet hacking has developed since the first internet viruses came more than 25 years ago. Finnish computer security expert Hyppönen speaks very convincingly about how the business now is in the hands of professional criminals. The speech is well structured and clearly illustrated and even funny. Upon this the facts presented are alarming. No wonder Hyppönen manages to keep his audience’s attention during the whole speech. As the theme is both important and interesting I chose to post a link to a TED speech that deals with hacking from another angle.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/misha_glenny.html

In his speech (also dated in 2011) journalist and writer Misha Glenny widens the subject by studying the hackers themselves. His first three minutes focus on Anonymous, which is a group of so called idealist hackers (or hactivists). The Anonymous is a virtual resistance group that hacks into international media corporations, security services, all sorts of governments and global companies. They act on ideological and not financial reasons. The rest of Glenny’s TED talk shows the humans behind hackers who work for criminal organisations. He has talked with six online robbers with six different backgrounds. Having compared their social abilities, he claims that many of them suffer from the Asperger syndrome. His interesting point of view is that these people should not be in jail, but rather be hired by their governments.

I find these TED talks quite essential especially as our normal media seldom covers stories about these online activities. I also like the shortness of the speeches, but as Glenny does not have much time to speak about the Anonymous, I enclose a link to some more info about this activist group:

http://blog.ted.com/2012/06/27/peeking-behind-the-curtain-at-anonymous-gabriella-coleman-at-tedglobal-2012/tg12_27415_d41_6950/