If you spend Saturday night in a dark room, surrounded by hackers, then you have every chance to find a job. Large companies and governments, watch with increasing attention the “hackathons” – hacker marathons where “geeks” gather together to simulate cyber attacks, writes Bloomberg. The largest companies in the world, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Sony, and governments offer jobs to hackers. By 2015, Western European countries must double the number of security specialists. The only problem is finding the hackers. Although unemployment in the 17 euro area countries reached 11% in March and April, there are companies like LinkedIn and Sony that continue to massively hire cyber security experts.
“You do not need a degree to become a hacker,” said Guillaume Vassault-Houlier, known as the Free_Man. Houlier hosted an event for hackers, organized near Paris, which attracted over 1,200 participants. From large companies such as Facebook, to the UK Government, they all started looking for hackers who are willing to improve their information system. Targeted are the computer “nerds”, who can pass the security barriers of companies. Jonathan Evans, director of MI5, British intelligence service, revealed in a speech this week in London that a British company had losses of 800 million pounds (1.25 billion dollars) due to a virus attack. “And they are not the only victim of this practice”, said the director.
Companies that recruit hackers do not take into account the resume of the targeted candidates, their past, educational qualifications or the clothes they wear. They seek to attract different people who do not fall within these rules. “Governments, companies, banks – they are all attacked regularly,” said Boris Hajduk, chief of information security department at the Viadeo SA company in Paris, a professional social network that competes with LinkedIn. “Attacks have become more technical and more visible. We must strengthen our forces.” The company representatives go regularly to hacker marathons, Viadeo being one of the most active recruiters in this field.
Facebook, the largest social network, has posted an announcement for the headquarters in California which read: “We are looking for a passionate hacker who wants to identify weaknesses in the network and eliminate them through creative solutions.”
British intelligence recruits employees using unusual methods. GCHQ, the intelligence and cyber security department of the government last year issued a code of a group of 160 letters and numbers, and those who managed to break the code could access a list of all vacancies. “We hire people who think like a hacker and are always one step ahead of their opponent”, writes the agency on its site. Government is looking for programmers and software engineers to protect and re-construct the security system, said British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in an interview.
Paris contest winner received a trip to Las Vegas to attend the largest “hackhatron” in the world, called Defcon. Participants that were selected by the companies said that their participation in this event doesn’t mean they are trying to find a job. “You’re finally able to meet with certain people that you talked online for months. It is a united community. We all know each other. For those who practice hacking as a hobby, it is a pleasure to gather together,” said Vassault Houliere.
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