The hacker hunters - Module 5
C1 Advanced · Multiple Matching · Advanced Expert Student's Resource Book, Pearson Education
You are going to read an article about a team of computer experts who fight cyber crime. For questions 1–10, choose from the sections (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than once.
Somewhere deep within the headquarters of a London-based IT company, a projection flickers on the whitewashed wall of a meeting room. Its uniform multi-coloured dots form an image that wouldn't look out of place in a modern art gallery. But this isn't art; it is science. Each lilac and rose-coloured spot represents one step in a hunt for hackers. For the members of the company's newest security team, a pack of cyber sleuths mostly still in their 20s, these bright lights are flares of corporate danger. The team offers its services to a growing number of corporate clients - companies seeking protection against cyber fraud, activism and industrial espionage, perpetrated by unseen enemies who can be thousands of miles away. In response, the IT company has launched a hiring spree over the past two years to create an in-house battalion of more than 80 youthful experts from across the UK and abroad.
Cyber protection has become one of the IT company's fastest-growing departments, fed in no small part by the increasing number of such attacks and deepening sense of bewilderment and fear within private corporations over who is profiting from these secret cyber wars. Hackers want to steal the secrets and money and damage the reputations of the companies they target. Recent studies show that their persistence pays: the UK government estimates that the cost of cyber crime to the country's economy alone reaches £27 billion annually, while a White House white paper on cyber policy estimated that data theft to US businesses costs close to
Dan Kelly, a 28-year-old former farm boy turned forensic investigator of computer code heads the team, which has pinpointed a one-man hack attack amid a string of dots, numbers and letters. 'This is malware that's been tied to several campaigns, which targeted people in the western and eastern hemispheres,' says Kelly, who left school at 16, having completed all his qualifications early. Malware is shorthand for the malicious software that is the stock-in-trade of hackers worldwide. 'What we've actually managed to do is tie the malware and the campaigns back to an individual.' Kelly, an expert in reverse engineering - taking code apart to deduce its origin and purpose - points out that the image projected on the team's meeting room wall is also telegraphing something personal about his prime suspect. Much like a graffiti artist, the hacker tagged his work, embedding his signature somewhere within the malware.
Hiring the right talent has been among the IT company's biggest challenges. Cyber experts - some of whom try out for jobs in simulated sessions of 'ethical hacking' or 'penetration testing', where they attempt to hack into replicas of companies' systems to find any vulnerabilities - are something of a rare breed. Stephen Page, who advises the UK government on the digital issues facing companies, offers a job description of what is needed in a tech detective, no matter the age. 'We need people who are not only technically agile but also totally trustworthy.'
The poster boy of the team's cyber efforts is Kris McConkey, a 31-year-old who has been obsessed with computers since primary school. McConkey, whose just-so hair, designer stubble and sharp shirts dispel any notion of the hoodie-wearing geek, grew up on a family farm in a rural corner of Ireland and bought his first computer at age 13. The first thing he did, somewhat disconcertingly to his parents, was pull it apart. Luckily, the young teenager also figured out how to fit all the pieces back together. Within the year, he was learning how to dissect computer viruses and malware. By the time he left school, he'd set up his own software company. 'I was always trying to work out how stuff worked and take things to bits - whether it was machinery or radios or anything - just to figure it out. I started doing that with computers and with computer programs as well,' he explains. 'I've pretty much done that either as a hobby or as my job for 16 years now: just trying to work out what the bad guys are up to and how to defend against it.'
The hacker hunters
A team of elite young experts are on the trail of the cyber criminals
the decision to embark on an intensive recruitment campaign?
a stereotypical image not confirmed by the appearance of one team member?
a method of assessing the suitability of those wishing to join the team?
evidence that suggests the identity of one particular criminal?
research that confirms the level of damage inflicted by cyber criminals?
one team member's particular area of technical expertise?
the personal qualities required of potential team members?
the visual representation of an ongoing investigation?
increasing levels of concern amongst those targeted by cyber criminals?
a natural talent that has been put to good use?
In which section does the writer mention
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