A Look Into the Chinese Hacker Underworld

beachels416 writes "The NY Times gained access to a Chinese hacker-for-profit, referred to as 'Majia,' and observed him during one of his nightly 'sessions.' From the article: 'Oddly, Majia said his parents did not know that he was hacking at night [hacking is illegal in China]. But at one point, he explained the intricacies of computer hacking and stealing data while his mother stood nearby, listening silently, while offering a guest oranges and candy.' At another point Majia spoke about the recent Google attacks, and claimed to have particular knowledge of the exact vector used. Nothing too new, but an interesting read nevertheless."

A real hacker...

[MindPrison]

...newer brags ...you'll never know - ever.

Cracker, not Hacker

[Anonymous Coward]

another example of the mainstream not getting it; Hackers are tinkerers, they're good.. Crackers are criminals. Until the media gets it right, how are we to expect the rest to understand?

Re:this just in!

[solafide]

MIT hackers don't tend to do things that are destructive of property, and in fact tend to spend a good bit of money for temporary appendages to various campus buildings for their hacks. I don't actually know a single cracker here at MIT.

Re:Perspective check

[Anonymous Coward]

expect the back doors to be open and the cargo gone.

Hehehe one time had to go out on a truck with a driver to test some software. Just as we are about to go out he goes 'oh damn forgot my box'. Odd thing to do but ok who am I to argue?

About 4 hours later 'remember that box from this morning?' 'yeah' 'well it is full of rotten chicken. I never lock the doors takes too much time locking and unlocking em to get my stuff out. I leave it right at the back where it is easy to get. Ive only lost the box 3 times. No one ever goes further in as they want to get away quick. Oh lock your door and dont get out here they will rob you blind.'

naaaaaaaaaaasty....

Re:I don't get it

[francium de neobie]

Stealing bank passwords is one thing, how to transfer the money to your account without being traceable is a much bigger problem.

sockpuppet

[xandroid]

"Majia" can mean "sockpuppet" in Mandarin.

Re:Wrong word?

[Lord Ender]

Welcome to the English language. When 99% of the population understands a certain word to mean a certain thing, then that word does, in fact, mean that thing.

What you will find even more confusing is that words sometimes have multiple meanings! For example, the word "hacker" could mean both "a clever programmer", "a golfer", and "a person who circumvents computer system security." All three at the same time! It's amazing.