Comment by megous | Hacker News Reader

Comment by megous | Hacker News Reader

So, given that he might have prevented more damage than he caused, if even the part of the recent DDoS reduction can be attributed to his activity, what to make of it? It can be more of a judgement on society if this person ends up in jail, while IoT makers keep making hefty profits being rewarded for their negligence, and ISPs keep making profits being rewarded for lying to their customers when shit happens and causing more damage than he ever could overall.

It all seems to start and end with technical ignorance of the typical customer. There are popular shows that help pepople choose better food, by exposing shenanigans food makers engage in. Perhaps there could be something similar for tech in the future. Something where a hacker comes on TV and makes a total ridicule of some IoT crap device, and the show uses it to constatntly repeats the basics, like changing default credentials, etc. Same schema that works with food shows, expose someone as an example and add some generally useful advice. Perhaps this might become feasible when IoT is more popular.

It can be more of a judgement on society if this person ends up in jail, while IoT makers keep making hefty profits being rewarded for their negligence, and ISPs keep making profits being rewarded for lying to their customers when shit happens and causing more damage than he ever could overall.

Masked comic book vigilantes aren't ever going to be a reality on the mean non-virtual streets of cities but on the Internet it seems we're confronted with something pretty much equivalent.

So here can consult all the old issue of Marvel and DC for a compendium of moral dilemmas and result.

>>Masked comic book vigilantes aren't ever going to be a reality on the mean non-virtual streets of cities

Unbelievably, this is actually the case in Seattle.

TIL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Jones

I believe the "super" in "super hero" refers to super powers, which Jones lacks. Also, vigilantes typically break the law, whereas Jones does not. In the videos I've seen, Jones is usually taking advantage of Washington's "mutual combat" law and challenging wrong doers to a fight. Then, he takes advantage of the fact that he is/was a professional MMA fighter and his opponent is a drunk jerk.

> Masked comic book vigilantes aren't ever going to be a reality on the mean non-virtual streets of cities but on the Internet it seems we're confronted with something pretty much equivalent.

Or maybe a bunch of actual researchers and government agencies working without praise while someone else writes a sensational story to take all of the credit. And the people believe it on the merits of it being the story they want to be true.

Wouldn't an intended side-effect of this action be the end-user getting educated about "why the device I bought doesn't work anymore?" and directly impacting the reputation of the company that manufactures that now-bricked device?

I can only see it as a win-win. Except the internet connected medical devices that are insecure which if affected by such purging bots would literally impact lives. I hope vigilante script kiddies don't get involved with good intent and cause havoc.

Hell's Kitchen for startups and tech with lots of quality expletives.

Not sure that TV food shows actually teach people anything. All I see is a lot of people going from fad to fad, not really understanding the core principles.

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