Hackers who come to hacker conference, like ToorCon 9, which wraps up today, don't see computing the way the rest of us do. Now, clearly, these guys aren't true black hats, even if they came to see the attack side. The real bad hackers don't register in advance for such conventions - tho they may be hacking the machinery and watching. These ToorCon attendees are security professionals, mainly consultants, smart and full of mischief.

They don't see hacking as good or evil. It's a question of can it be done? And how?

They can tell - and understand - jokes told entirely in numbers and letters.

They have a set of best practices so when they do risky stuff they know what they're ignoring.

They assume they'll be cracked and hacked.

They have cooler t-shirts.

Like Dan Griffin, who hacks Vista, they think output is sexy.

They don't take simple positions like "I'll never use Vista, until I'm sure they got the bugs out." It's too fun to play with this new toy.

After Beetle explains he doesn't believe in the threat of e-jihad, because no one will get 72 virgins for studying code, cracking a security net, getting into vital software for airports or water supplies - thus making it not worthwhile for martyrs, a voice calls out: How many will the guy get?

They like each other. They admire each others' work and they'll show you how to do it.

Hack the Pentagon? They're even willing to hack your home printer!

They give each other credit and laugh at their own awesome accomplishments.

And, tho they are finding scary stuff, they aren't scared.Badges_by_mat_2

"These are people who are curious and are always learning to use their tools better," says Geo, minister of propaganda for ToorCon. "This is a particularly good conference because you get five times the information of DefCon with one fourth of the liver damage."

Out in the halls, the best conversations flourish. Hackers tell you that ISP hostility is the new big problem, where your ISP is making it hard for you to get to websites that aren't paying the ISP off. ToorCon9 tags -- photo by Matt Westervelt

They tell you that search engines that study your activity (most if not all) are a greater danger to our privacy than the scariest Gonzales of the federal government.

They tell you that servers are so well secured that clients are now the problem and the single greatest threat to server safety and security comes from the clients, who metaphorically roll in filth and then bring it home to the server.

And they tell you this stuff with glee, the glee of a smart kid who figured out somthing cool, not of an angel or a devil.

There's no hats here, not white, black or gray. Just cool t-shirts and smart folks who come to hang out together because a couple people can push the envelope farther than one.