Black Hats & Innovation (Score 1)

I was a former black hat who got lucky - I broke into my School board's main frame when I was 13 years old and racked up a $11,000 phone bill for them by downloading C64 games (yes this was a LONG time ago) from around the world via there system. In the end, I got caught and the only reason I didn't get prosecuted was because the receptionist of the prosecutor for the school board was my brothers fiancé's mother - how lucky is that? Instead, when I was 15, I ended up going to school 1/2 of the year and working for the school board the other 1/2. I was teaching educators how to use technology in the classroom, taught gifted children how to make interactive kiosks, and wrote 18 educational software applications based on my mentors ideas - one of which has just past the $100,000,000 in sales (too bad I didn't understand the word royalties back then). Anyways, my point is I know I was very lucky and things could have turned out a lot worse (some say I have a horseshoe up my arse, others say it's the whole horse) but seriously, in my opinion former black hats are at the cutting edge of technology they abilities have proven them as people who are innovators - and I respect that. As you all know, the majority of black hats are really just explorers out to do no harm. Give them an opportunity to do the same thing legitimately and I think you'll be surprised at what they can accomplish. But here's my real point - if you're a former black hat looking for a job, don't tell the employer about it! For the most part, unless you have a criminal record, there is no way for them to know. Then you can joke about it 6-12 months after you've been hired when they know you're a solid individual. Now I'm a senior sotware producer who hires developers from all around the world, I personally wouldn't care what the persons background was re: being a black hat as long as they delivered. Nowadays I'll let the younger generation do the hacking as they usually just get a slap on the wrist when caught. As for me, as an "adult", I don't do it anymore as I don't want to end up in Jail with a big boyfriend named Rocky thank you very much. S.