HOPE Conference Gathers those Proud to Call themselves Hackers

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Want to find out how to get out of high-security handcuffs? What about the security of identification cards? Or bio-hacking? Proprietary algorithms of reverse engineering?

Then plan to attend the next HOPE (Hackers of Planet Earth) conference, which despite a big show of saying this year’s was the last, looks to be on again for the summer of 2010.

Hackers. Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing, say the 2000+ people who attended this year’s conference. The attendees would prefer that you understand their meaning of the word "hacker:" "A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary." According to the Internet Users' Glossary, a hacker is "A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular."

So while the term has come to mean someone who illegally "hacks" into different computer systems and the like (and it can still mean that), it also is an honorary term to describe someone who thinks outside the box and wants to find out how everything works.

Noah Schiffman, also known as Security Phreak, writes in his Network World blog that the fundamentals of the "hacker lifestyle" include "the improvement of scientific processes, helping people achieve technological independence, creating self-reliant communities through education, and providing eco-friendly solutions for modern living."

Speakers at the HOPE conference included Steven Levy, senior writer at Wired magazine and critic of Apple; Kevin Mitnick, a formerly imprisoned hacker who now owns a computer security consultancy company; Jello Biafra, former Dead Kennedys musician and general self-described anarchist; and Adam Savage of the show "Mythbusters," among others.

The conference was started by Eric Corley, also known as Emmanuel Goldstein, publisher of the magazine "2600, the Hacker Quarterly."

One talk focused on information gathered at the conference itself, called the "Attendee Meta-Data Project." Participants were given an identification badge containing an RFID (radio frequency identification) which tracked their whereabouts for the duration of the conference.

Other topics included such titles as "Evil Interfaces; Violating the User," "Wikipedia: You Will Never Find a More Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy," "Bio-Hacking, an Overview" (which included how to manipulate DNA to made genetically modified organisms, like fluorescent mice…the real kind, not the computer versions); "Building a Better Ballot Box," and many, many others.

The hackers attending the conference say that they feel very community-responsible, and feel they’re protecting the future, in a way, by figuring out how things are put together in the present.

As the intro to the program stated, "When all is said and done...is it not all too clear that we are allin fact The Last HOPE for the future?"