The Secret World of Hackers
Among the many groups stereotyped by special interests and the media, Hackers have one of the least accurate reputations. Contrary to popular belief, most Hackers do not break into banks or create viruses to pilfer your computer’s vacation photos.
Instead they gather together in a diverse community of amateur and professional scientists, engineers and innovators and (usually as a hobby) develop new tools and solutions to share with the world for free. In fact, most of the improvements in computer security have come directly from the Hacker community working to discover and responsibly disclose problems to vendors so they can fix them and keep their users safe.
In this course you will learn what a Hacker is, their history, the many technical fields their interests encompass and how their efforts better mankind (as well as the controversies surrounding them). We will visit a local DC Hackerspace and see what some of the members are working on. A layman’s introduction to “creating a hack” will be presented to show how critical thinking is applied to traditional computer science to discover the true potential of the world of technology. If you can, please bring common door or pad locks or old electronics equipment you don’t mind destroying as well as your laptop.
Location
HacDC Hackerspace 1525 Newton St NW, Washington DC 20010
Address will be emailed upon registration.
Past event