Six Lines

Point-Counterpoint: Hiring Hackers

Posted by Aaron Massey on 28 Jun 2010.

Bruce Schneier and Marcus Ranum discuss a topic I’ve commented on before: Should you hire a convicted felon to do computer security work? Although this article appears as a point-counterpoint piece, you could be forgiven for thinking that they basically agree with each other after reading the article since they each offer variations on the theme of “it depends.”

I don’t agree. **The bottom line is simple: popular culture is wrong — don’t hire hackers for computer security work. **

Are there exceptions? Maybe. Schneier and Ranum don’t point out any compelling examples though. More importantly, why take the chance when there are so many highly qualified individuals who haven’t been convicted of computer crimes?