Q&A

Why Johnny Long Hacks Stuff

The Christian hacker talks about how he wrote No Tech Hacking, why he thinks social engineering is easier than hacking software, and how hes trying to get the hacking community to do charity work

By Katherine Walsh

CSO: What are some examples of how hacking skills can be applied to charities?

Long: There is more to hacking than offensive security. One byproduct is that you learn good defense. So one thing we do is to lock down sites that are already installed. We’ll look at them and see that software packages are out of date, or there’s a problem with the code. We also have Web design skills. Understanding HTML and the languages of the Web gives you a leg up in design. Programming is another skill that many hackers are very good at. For AOET, we put a child sponsorship program online where people can come in and sponsor children for $30 a month and pay for their schooling and clothes and medical supplies. We’ve automated that system, transforming it from a very slow laborious thing to a point and click pay online effort. It literally saves kids because it gets more kids into the program. It was written by a programmer in a week and a half with no budget. It’s really just about applying these peripheral skills and making sure everything is on the up and up.

CSO: You describe yourself as a Christian hacker. What do you mean by that?

Long: Hacking is a job. It’s what I do to pay the bills, and it just so happens I’m also one of the good guys. So that term is really just taking my job and my beliefs and combining them. It’s really not that strange of a thing. It boils down to me living life to a higher standardnot just plugging through and doing the 9-5.

CSO: You’ve also said that the religious establishment could learn a lot from the hacking community. Explain that.

Long: It’s amazing because the hacking community is so accepting. Many times you’re working with people that operate under completely different beliefs than you do; they believe in different religions, and are of different ethnicities. All of that vanishes in a chat room. All of the things we get so hung up on in this society disappear. I’ve been able to be who I am with no apologies in this community.

CSO: What’s the most important piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to become a professional hacker?

Long: You have to remember trust is everything. Whether or not you decide to get into this as a profession, if you do things you’re not supposed to, it’s really going to hurt you in many different ways. But if you have incredible passion that you want to take to the next level and make a career out of it, you really have to set your path early on and be aware that if not done right, this stuff can come back to bite you.

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