Hackers Tell People They Hacked, People Apathetic

By Alicia Dorr in News on Nov 10, 2006 3:53PM

Ever since watching the movie Hackers we've always had a sort of jr. high school fascination with the people who hack computers in real life. How badass! The problem, of course, is that we always forget that anyone who is willing to spend 23 hours a day on his or her computer figuring something out, well, they've got to be a nerd of the "bleegin, blobbin" school of thought.

The computer wizards involved with the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project proved this again the other day when they were forced to point out that they hacked into the Illinois voter database, since no one seemed to have noticed. The reporter they were telling must have just been nodding blankly, because an official with the group was forced to explain what exactly that meant. He was then forced to explain why it was a problem - that it could "potentially create problems with the election."

Ohhhhhh ... we get it now. Problems with the election, right. Well, we guess it's a good thing you're a bunch of do-gooders, then. We just felt bad for the official, when reading about the situation, because they really are good people who are trying to point something out that is wrong. But just like us when we were in NHS in high school, no one cares. He finally had to claim that they "could have wiped the whole database out if they wanted to."

The worst thing is, we're not even sure the claim is true. A spokesman for the Chicago Election Board assured that voters can rest easy, there was no way for them to cause any real harm and the problems, if there were any, were fixed. After all that work, the other kids still found a way to make fun of the hackers. We wish we could give those lovable good samaritans a hug right now and tell them to keep up the good whistle-blowing. Oh, yeah, and to stop hacking into the voter database. ... Unless they're willing to change our grades for a buck.

Photo via erro404.com.br