It's a strategic maxim as old as warfare, but according to attendees here at this week's WebSec security conference, one which many network administrators have yet to learn. The image of the hacker as a romantic, dangerous figure is pervasive, even in high-tech industries.
Vendors promote such an image to sell security products.
Hackers and wannabes promote it for the mystique. But security specialists at WebSec say that these myths can be far from harmless. Often, when a company is guarding against an illusory threat, it may be overlooking a real one. Hacking is no more inherently difficult than plumbing or carpentry, and just as in anything, there is a small minority who are very intelligent and talented, and a great majority who are not. Craig Rowland, Cisco Systems Inc.