Extracts - Phrack

.:: The fall of hacker groups ::.

Hacking is, in its very essence, an underground movement. Those who take part in it have always been the ones who (ab)used technology in ways beyond the knowledge of the larger userbase. It is tightly linked to intense efforts in unveiling previously unknown information as well as in sharing these discoveries.

We live in days of limited creativity. Moreover, as contraditory as it may seem, it looks particularly rare for creativity to arise from groups or teams. Communities, rather than individuals, should be more intellectually empowered to create, but lately we have been watching the force of the solo, the age of the ego.

Our nearly obsessive compulsion for work consumes not only our time, in the literal form of labor hours, but our minds, by distracting us from everything else we could be doing otherwise. These distractions include our unceasing connection to ubiquous media (e.g. the frequent checks for new e-mail, or accesses to social networks on mobile devices) as well as an increased concern with financial stability and provisioning, a concern that grows as welfare is invariably trimmed by both the governments and the private sector.

phrack 69:6, Strauss

.:: Hacking the Mind for fun and profit ::.

By following what trusted sources tell us is good without questioning and thinking for ourselves, we become slaves of our own ignorance. Ever since we are little, we rely on others to tell us what’s good or bad for us. First there were parents and family. Later our trusted sources circles get larger including our friends and colleagues. When we grow up we also consider mass media, internet and press as trusted sources.

What if the trusted sources slightly modify the information sent to us as in the NLP case study? Just to trigger a certain behavioural pattern from us?

By exploiting human being ignorance and confort in trusting what they consider as being trusted sources, or by faking a source making it look trustworthy you can trick people into acting against themselves and surprisingly, be happy about it.

Just because the chains [of slavery] don’t ring anymore as we walk it does not mean that they disappeared. It’s just that today chains have been more subtle and harder to perceive.

phrack 67:15, lvxferis