- Friday, 27 November 2009
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It's not the taste of water I object to. It's the after effects - Ronald Knox
16 year-old 'hacker' designs Internet policy
A TEENAGE hacker who managed to get around the Aussie government's $84 million internet filter scheme has been recruited by the opposition Labor party to design its cyber safety policy.
Tom Wood has now become the subject of a slanging match between the Labor and Liberal parties.
Liberal Communications Minister, Helen Coonan, denies that Wood "hacked" the software filters, saying he bypassed them by gaining access to the administrator account on his computer.
She chucked a bit of mud in the kid's direction saying the boy "continued to seek notoriety using any means possible".
However Labor's communications spokesman, Stephen Conroy accused Coonan of attacking a 16-year-old schoolboy "who only wants to make the internet safer".
Young Tom has been speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald about the row saying that he was quite offended by Coonan's antics calling them 'low'.
He said that he had been trying hard to do whatever he could to expose weak points in the government's cyber-safety policy.
Wood insists he is apolitical says and tried to have meetings with the Government and Opposition to discuss cyber safety.
However the Liberals, who are mite red-faced that their glorious and expensive filters could be turned over by a 16 year-old, have refused to talk to him.
It seems that the Labor opposition, which is looking a good bet to win the Aussie election, took his ideas seriously.
Shadow Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy said that Labor consulted widely when it came to hatching its cyber safety policy but Wood was "integral" to the project.
Tom says his parents are being "both very supportive and proud."He said they want to make sure his new job doesn't inflict on his academic progress. "I spend all my IT class at school googling my name now," he confessed.
Good morning, Tom. µ
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Redefining a term is a political pastime we all know and love. So what is the definition of hacking ?
It can be defined as "attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems", or "(using) programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file".
These definitions are available on Dictionary.com, so you check them yourself.
Therefor, I retain the fact that the METHOD of how a hack is made is unimportant, it is the RESULT that counts : gaining access to protected data.
So the attempt to slander the hack as a "bypass" instead of a "hack" is not only useless but untrue. The kid got access, therefor he hacked.
On top of that, saying that he "only bypassed" is a bit like saying "airport security is top notch as long as nobody uses the unsupervised truck entrance".
Not exactly reassuring.
kevin 07!
I have to be misunderstanding this line:
"...he bypassed them by gaining access to the administrator account on his computer."

Um... yes? Am I not supposed to be able to access the administrator account on my computer? Are all the computers locked down in Aus or something?

If he was able to get through to the internet just by getting admin rights on his own kit then they REALLY need some work done over there.
This software is going no where near any of my computers, i would expect that my brother would be through it in minutes and my sisters not far behind. realisticly this software has nothing on just a bit of time spent teaching them what they should be on the lookout for in the first place.

And its not going to matter which way governemnt goes were going to have to deal with pus weak measures like this for a long time more. it would have been much easier to just let the porn industry have a .xxx domain and be done with that.

The porn industry has a vested interest in schemes to help filter its wares from minors and the like. It gets blocked -- like with the 'xxx' domain -- because the prudes regard any attempt to help them segregate their wares as somehow enabling them, making their material easier for everyone to find (which we can't have because its immoral and similar BS). Its time to take on these prudes head on. I like the idea of segregation because I'm not a customer -- I don't like porn at all, I don't want it on my systems -- but I don't think its my place to force my tastes on everyone else.