Hack My System. Please.

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,21507,00.html

[I didn't post anything on this when the AP copy came my way either, I
have a big problem with these contests in general, I would rather see
Argus offering a $1 million dollar bounty over $50,000. You could
discover a threat in the software and keep that knowledge for oneself
over getting a $50,000 now for maybe a bigger payout later. :)  -WK]

By Keith Dawson
January 16, 2001

The third OpenHack challenge, which offers hackers $50,000 to break
into servers supplied by Illinois-based Argus Systems Group, opened
for business yesterday. It has been drawing a comfortable amount of
coverage. Most reports in the mainstream media seemed content with
quotes from Argus and from the contest's sponsor, eWeek. To dig deeper
one had to turn to the geek press.

Many outlets that covered the story went with AP wire copy. And why
not? The unsigned AP piece had a great lead "Gentlemen, start your
modems"  and quotes like this one from eWeek Editor in Chief Eric
Lundquist: "I like that old rodeo saying: 'There's never been a horse
that can't be rode, there's never been a rider that can't be
throwed.'" AP gave little background on OpenHack or on Argus' track
record in other such contests.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer augmented the AP coverage with a local
angle: the views of two security experts, one a member of a group
called the Ghetto Hackers. Reporter Marni Leff quoted the reluctance
of hacker Riley "Caezar" Eller to take on Argus: "I've attempted to
break into Argus systems before, and I think they provide a really
good basis on which to start a network or a dot-com."

[...]

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