Earn Your Hacking Degree

This isn't a bad infomercial that runs late at night with promises of getting rich quick or landing the career you've always been dreaming of. You've heard "earn your degree at home in as little as 6 months", blah blah blah. I don't believe in those "degrees". To me they aren't real. They hold no real value in the workplace, but if it makes some high school dropout feel better about himself by holding a half sheet of paper that claims he's a certified public accountant, than so be it. I just know I won't be hiring him to do my taxes - sorry. I'm a big fan of education. Not late night TV at home degree education. I mean real education. The kind where your have to sign those AES loan checks every month, making you wonder when they will stop bleeding your dry of your paycheck. The kind where you have to actually step foot inside a classroom. There's just no comparable substitute. With that said, some things in life can't be taught by book. They can't be taught by a professor. They are taught with life. Thru experiences. Thru growing.

Despite any of my own degrees and certifications, at times I feel I've learned the most on my own. Thru trial and error. Thru inquisitiveness. Thru experimentation. Thru challenging what shouldn't be challenged. By bending and sometimes breaking rules to discover and explore new found territory to quench my thirst for knowledge. By repairing the irreparable and making what wasn't broke stronger than it once was. In short, much of what I know today is self-taught. For me, it's the best way I learn. For others, they may want to quench their thirst in the UK.

The University of Abertay in is offering a first ever for Brits, a degree in computer hacking. The 3 year course will guide students through the intricacies of computer security systems and how to get around them so that they can become the insecurity experts of tomorrow. Upon graduation, students will be able to hawk their skills to the highest bidder. However, applicants will be subjected to a vetting process overseen by the Home Office and Foreign Office to make sure undesirables don't get themselves equipped with a cyber terrorism kit. A professor teaching the course states "We will be monitoring the students very closely because we want them to come out on the other end as ethical hackers."

Keep in mind that giving someone the necessary tools and know-how to do evil, doesn't necessarily mean he will do evil...but it doesn't mean he will do good either. It comes down to ethics, more than tools and know-how. Some poses it. Some do not. After all, hackers are only people. And we all know that with people, ethics often play a huge role in the workplace. I hope the dean keeps that fact in mind when he is handing out the diplomas. Putting a "hacking degree" into the wrong hands could be like handing out a license to kill, no exaggerating. See the cyber terrorism post...

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