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Security expert hits out at British Intelligence hiring of hackers

The hiring of alleged hackers has been criticised after British intelligence services hired 50 computer-savvy hackers to work in the Cyber Operations Command. Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, claimed that the appointment of the computer-savvy hackers to work in the Cyber Operations Command that was recently announced as a part of the UK Cyber Security Strategy, would be untrustworthy.

The complaints were not about the age of the hackers or about the Cyber Security Strategy in general, but the implication that only young (former) criminals have the skills required to carry out the work necessary to combat cyber terrorism.

Ferguson said: “It is entirely unacceptable that our security services and our government are broadcasting the message that the only qualification necessary for a job in MI5 is being a hacker (one bad enough to have got caught). “People who have been found to have broken the law should not be allowed to profit from their misdeeds especially by way of an employment offer in the very field of their criminal activities. Would you hire a convicted embezzler as your accountant? How about a teenage convicted embezzler?”

He went on to claim it would be beneficial if, instead of inviting criminals and hackers to assist in these commendable national security endeavours, the government approached the application, network and content security communities who have been combating malicious, criminal computer and network related activity for many years.

There are numerous ethical hackers both in the private sector and Government organisations such as the MoD and Inteligence Services, why do they need to hire hackers who have been court?

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