George "Geohot" Hotz has taken a job at social networking giant Facebook, according to multiple reports and multiple sources. But the most telling evidence that he has been working as a software engineer for the company since May 9 is his own Facebook page where he lists "Facebook" as his current employer.
Hotz is best known for jailbreaking the iPhone and then the PlayStation 3. In the case of the latter, he did this to re-enable the use of Linux via the "OtherOS" feature of the PlayStation 3. Sony was not pleased and sued the hacker. Ultimately Sony and Hotz settled that dispute, with most of the terms undisclosed to the public. The only thing Hotz said publically was that he made a pact with the company to no longer engage in hacking the PS3 and to not share any further information on his work in that regard.
Source: GamePro
Comments
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Interesting. I don't really care about Geohot or what he did/does. But I find this a conveinient chain of events for him.
Geohot hacks the PS3 for Other OS> Sony finds out and sues> Geohot makes a huge deal about the lawsuit being for the rights of [insert term for hackers here you don't find offensive], makes a rap and becomes famous on the internet> Geohot manages to "fight" the lawsuit on someone else's dollar (donations)
Now here's where the speculation from myself goes in.
Sony goes after Geohot for doing something illegal in their ELUA or whatever> the find evidence> Geohot's lawyer says to settle or he's going to jail> faced with the prospect of actual consequences to his "for the rights of all of us!" activities, Geohot settles and sends remainder of donations to charity to avoid fraud
Now armed with a resume of his hacking skills via a simple google search, Geohot looks for well paying work that appreciates his talents, which previously wouldn't go well on a normal resume. Below education there isn't a line for personal hacking activities. Regardless of how qualified they make you most employers would probably be wary.
How very conveinient for him.
-Austin from Oregon
Feel free to check out my blog.
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Why do I get the feeling you're using a different definition of hacking than is standard? And by "different", I actually mean "wrong".
Unrelated, I can't see how "oh, so you made major modifications to a common piece of consumer hardware, spread it around, and got sued for it" really works to get job at Facebook.
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Mind you this huy seems like the real deal and not like LulzSec (who I doubt could actually hack without downloaded software).
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
He only took a job at Facebook because the 13-year-old girls in real life won't talk to him anymore.
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Power means nothing without honor and pride."
http://grifsgamereviews.blogspot.com My video game review site.
Atlanta Video Games Examiner for examiner.com
Atlanta Video Games Examiner for examiner.com
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Seriously, I think you've crossed the libel prerequisites with that continuous allusion of him being a pedophile.
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Seriously, I think you need to work on that awful lack of a sense of humor. It's a joke.
And besides, he does kinda look like a pedophile.
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Power means nothing without honor and pride."
http://grifsgamereviews.blogspot.com My video game review site.
Atlanta Video Games Examiner for examiner.com
Atlanta Video Games Examiner for examiner.com
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
There is no such thing as "looking like a pedophile". You are quite a sickening individual and your relentless need to campaign through name-calling, insinuation and call to authority reflects your poor ability to follow the truth even when it is unpleasant to you. Now I'm curious. Will you dig 3 pages down and reply to this post as well?
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Good for him. Since he knows how to crack systems he can stop others from doing it, or help to.
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
You might be mixing up a bunch of publicized recent events. GeoHotz isn't a security expert, or breaks into websites. He is into robotics, electrical engineering and software engineering--these are not synonymous. I don't think Facebook, or George's interests have anything to do with security.
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
There's that word again- Hack.
It's not like, what... modifying? Manipulating? No... it's "hack".
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
Because that's what he did.
Other terms have been coined such as "cracking" but it all leads to the same end, ultimately. The term "hacking" doesn't always equate to "bad".
Hackers are both people who bypass computer security to gain access to secure networks and information, as well as people who modify software and hardware to remove or add extra functionality to it.
For all intents and purposes, a high-level IT security expert could be considered a "hacker". They no doubt know the methods of intrusion and how to prevent them. Most IT-related degrees will teach ways to bypass security so that you're aware of how it's done, and how to prevent it. Do they teach hacking? Yes. That doesn't mean it's bad.
Electrical engineers are in the same boat, since they can modify the physical attributes of hardware for whatever purpose, if they're skilled.
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Randi Tastix - http://randomtastic.com
Re: PS3 Jailbreaker Reportedly Working for Facebook
The idea of a negative buzz-word went over your head, clearly.