Defcon opens the floodgates to...children?

Is there really an "ethical" hacking? An even better question - can children under the age of 16 really understand the difference? Hacking, unknown to many, can cause severe damage and millions of dollars of revenue lost for conglomerates around the world as the internet has no boundaries. Don't believe me - Google "Mafia Boy".


Or better yet - take a look at this hacker.

ABC News  is reporting that kids as young as 8 were invited to the hacker's convention in Las Vegas this past weekend. The event attracts the attention of security analysts, IT experts, and those who can exploit flaws in various security systems from around the world. The expo features anything from lock picking to taking down complex firewalls.

These young kids were exposed to many different methods of circumventing securities and were encouraged to find flaws in video games or computers in their homes.

I'm all for treating knowledge as open-source and letting any individual learn what out's there at any given time - but there is something unnerving about promoting potentially dangerous activities. After all, it's called security for a reason and it's mean to protect us for a reason.

The information itself is just that - information. Those intelligent enough to learn it hopefully don't use it for purposes which willfully harm anyone or anything. But, these are adults with a sense of right or wrong. At the age of 8, the conscious has barely had time to grow and mature. Imagine the power of knowing how to pick a lock at the age of 8 - I sure as hell would have gotten into a lot of trouble.

I completely support Defcon and Black Hat Security events and I really believe they make for a safer world because at most of these events, flaws are exposed for the purposes of fixing. However, will this knowledge comes power, and with power comes...well you know...responsibility.I don't even think an 8-year old could spell the word.