The Enigma Factor

The recompiled fix was retested, and he wrote up the required narrative. Perhaps a little more formal than some other posts, but his name, at least his cyber name, was on it. No one was left to take pride in his name or his ability but himself. He could be true to himself. Mom and Granny would be proud.

Buzz: ping!

JAM: hey, Buzz. Whatcha need

Buzz: Hey man, need some help with some code. I believe I know what is needed, but I will take your opinion

JAM: Little busy here Buzz, really don’t have time.

Buzz: Loser! What’s the matter, not up for real work? So much for being a bud

JAM: Ok, ok send it to me, I’ll make some time

Buzz: Good man. Need by early morning, see ya!

JAM: Where is my P.O. for this work? J

Buzz: lol

He was a hacker. By definition that could be stated as a person who breaks into computers and computer networks for profit, in protest, or because they are motivated by the challenge. Today the subculture was actually part of the open community. Plus there was the whole White Hat versus Black Hat controversy. Jacob considered himself a White Hat, part of the group of security experts who referred to Black Hats, or computer criminals, as crackers rather than hackers.

            His machine chirped. He paused and opened the chat window.

                “Why do I let Buzz suck me in every time?” Jacob muttered.

            Going back to the task at hand, he finished his commentary and then posted it and the corrected program to the web site. Maybe someone would notice his penchant for detail. Today, at almost thirty, he had a good job with a leading information security company, PT, Inc., as a security penetration-tester, helping companies avoid information compromise. Some would say he was too focused on work.

            Laughing to himself, he jumped over to his email account window. He found the note and attachment from Buzz. Great, Buzz wanted him to review the coding routine for interest calculations in a new program for his bank. Reading the requirements, picking through the code Buzz included, Jacob saw error after error.

            “His effort here is so junior,” Jacob muttered. “Buzz tries, but he is so out of his league. Granted we were college buddies, but this is really bad.”

            Jacob had been lucky with his scholarship to MIT, whereas Buzz had basically bought his degree.