When it comes to hackers, the world’s attention is largely captivated by large hacks for sensitive information, like the one against Sony, or ones orchestrated for fun or to create chaos. But while all that has been doing on, a small enterprise has been growing: hackers for hire. Normal, everyday people can offer jobs to hackers for seemingly simple stuff: Hack my boyfriend’s gmail. Get into my employer’s website. Remove this embarrassing photo.
On Friday, The New York Times highlighted Hacker’s List, a website that boasts the tagline, “Hire the RIGHT hacker.” They follow that up with the statement, “Hiring a hacker shouldn’t be a difficult process, we believe that finding a trustworthy professional hacker for hire should be a worry free and painless experience.” Oh. Of course.
The business opened up in early November and offers customers the ability to anonymously locate anonymous hackers for whatever price they choose to set. Hackers can then bid on work they’d like to complete. In the end, customers can rate the work of their hacker, creating an atmosphere of competition among hackers. The website itself will collect money on each transaction, creating profit for the owners for simply supplying the connection, like a hacker match maker.
Though a relatively new company, customers already far outweigh the hackers on the site. The New York Times reports that currently only 40 hackers are registered to the site but there are 844 job posters.
Of course, the legality of the site is up for debate, but the owners of the site seem to feel they are protected for not condoning or endorsing illegal activities . They also make every user agree to a 10-page terms and conditions agreement that forbids using the site for illegal activity. However, jobs on the very first page of the site are for illegal activities, like breaking into another person’s email.
Who knows how long this particular company will last. But its clear by the sheer amount of work requested that hacking is indeed a much-requested service that people are willing to pay for. If it’s not Hacker’s list, it’ll just be a shady Craigslist post.
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