back to article Report: Hacking forum is a cybercrime academy

Certain underground hacking forums are acting as training academies and tech-support networks for cybercriminals as well as creating a marketplace for a vast array of cybercrime tools, say researchers. Database security firm Imperva has been keeping close tabs on an unnamed hacking message board with nearly 220,000 registered …

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  1. jake Silver badge

    Script kiddies are not hackers.

    You can't purchase or download "hack". It comes from within.

    See The Jargon File.

    Or perhaps the laterday http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1392

    EOF

  2. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Facepalm

    Company discovers forum, with dodgy participants up to no good, acts like a....well a forum for sharing knowledge about stuff that people up to no good like to discuss!

    Well blow me down!

    1. Elmer Phud
      Holmes

      It's a bit like sending someone to prison and complaining the place is full of criminals

  3. Tim Nicholls
    Holmes

    Hackers use the Internet - SHOCKER!

    Company that makes money from security risks publishes a report that scaremongers about security risks - ANOTHER SHOCKER!

  4. dephormation.org.uk
    Facepalm

    Cybercrime Academy?

    I thought you were on about William Hague's conference announced today, covering state sponsored cybercrime

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Cybercrime?

      You mean like "The Patriot Act"? or the "Protect IP Act"?

  5. Tom 38
    Joke

    It sounds good

    However they are talking about stackoverflow.com

  6. Neal 5

    Naivety

    never surprises me, however I would of thought that at least ElReg's hacks would've discovered hack forums on a google search eons ago, or not appartantly.

    1. diodesign Silver badge
      Alert

      Y'know, not every reader is clued up on the life and crimes of hacker types.

      1. h4rm0ny

        Re: Not every reader...

        Exactly - that's why we need forums like the one in the article.

  7. Neal 5

    @diodesign

    it's not about the reader but the reporter, ya'kno. Research, some of us have heard of it. Thanks for the downvote, it's the only reason I post.

    1. diodesign Silver badge
      Facepalm

      I'm not talking about the reporter - John knows his stuff. And I didn't down vote.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not surprising

    Very sensible of Imperva to keep an eye on hacking forums. What is surprising is the following quote :

    "Hacker forums are still not well understood by many in the security community..."

    Why not? Anyone who purports to be a security professional must know that it is important to understand the motivation and capability of the potential threat actors, and should be keeping an eye on such forums (and maybe subscribing to such periodicals as "2600").

    Any who don't are little better than double-glazing salesmen.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Headmaster

    Use of 'hacker'

    Is no one upset at the inappropriate use of the term 'hacker' anymore? Not even by IT security firms and IT news sites?

    To paraphrase a martial arts movie, talking about martial arts skill - "An astronomer can be a hacker with his relentless pursuit of knowledge, constantly peering at the stars. A unix guru can be a hacker with his thirst for knowing more about his system of choice, a student can be a hacker by constantly teaching himself new things at a level most people do not bother going to."

    Persons with malicious intent or script kiddies et al. - hackers, they are not.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Hacker"

      Turn about is fair play. They call Hackers criminals, I call them criminals, etc. etc.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    skids gonna skid

    Buying trojans? Western kids with too much money and spare time. Idle hands, devil's plaything, etc.

    Purchasing software and following a manual does not make you a hacker. It makes you a script kid.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The more the better

    The more hackers and script kiddies they throw in prison, the better.

    1. kellerr13

      Hackers in prison.

      The Apolo 13 spacecraft was saved by a group on the ground that managed to come up with a Hacked solution. They are hackers, so should they be sent to prison?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @Kellerr13

        You know full well what he means, stop being obtuse.

  12. Chris 228

    Some folks are confused...

    Hackers break into PC systems to cause damage. They are not technicians who resolve PC problems.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Downvoter

      Like it or not, the meaning of the word hacker has changed, it used to mean people who make technical things work without a manual or formal training, these days it means people who obtain access to systems that they shouldn't do.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's been going on since...

    I had my first PC that connected to the internet with 56k modem 8Mb ATI card on a Pentium 133 in '96. I discovered it not long after I got on the internet. Maybe within a few hours?

    Don't tell me those guys only found out recently. Lulz.

    It used to be more rampant mind you with hackers freely distributing guides as well as hacking tools without the nasty trojans infested malware you get today.

  14. Graham Marsden
    Holmes

    In other news...

    ... oh you know the rest.

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