Computer Hackers Getting Their Own Reality Show

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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Computer Hackers Getting Their Own Reality Show



"The World's No. 1 Hacker" and his team are getting a crack at 15 minutes of fame.

It seems like just about everyone is getting a reality show. "Real" housewives, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_of_love>ex-strippers, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Repo>repo-men, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_the_Bounty_Hunter>Hawaiian bounty hunters, <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-List:_New_York>power gays in New York, and folks competing to be videogame testers are just a few of the folks that have TV crews following them around these days. Now, hackers can be added to the ever-growing list, as a computer security firm has just announced that it's signed a deal for a documentary-style show that its promising will thrill audiences everywhere.

LIGATT Security International revealed today that it's got a reality show - about life at both its Atlanta and Los Angeles offices - in the works. According to Greg Evans, the company's CEO and self-described as the <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Become-Worlds-Hacker-Simple-ebook/dp/B003AOB15G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1296496333&sr=1-1>"World's No. 1 Hacker", the upcoming show is the result of people trashing the book he released last year.

Although LIGATT Security employees have talked about a reality show for years, it did not become a reality until June of last year after Evans released his latest book, "How To Become The World's No. 1 Hacker." With a number of people who had never read the book, but posted negative comments on blog sites, the company was contacted by a Hollywood figure. Controversy about the book is what led to the beginning of a website called, "The Cyber Wars." The site was created to display not only Gregory Evans side, but also give the bashers a chance to explain theirs.

"It's funny because everyone really thought it was me that created the site," says Evans. The creator of the site stated what he was trying to do with the site and now it is a reality. With various reality shows airing such as, The Real Housewives, Storage Wars, Pawn Shop, and Operation Repo. To date, there has never been a reality show solely about computer security. "Who wouldn't want to see a show on the most controversial security expert in the history of computer security?"

Recently, LIGATT employees "voted and agreed to sign a contract agreement allowing them to be filmed during their day-to-day operations. The network needed more than 80% of the employees to agree in order for the show to move forward." Exactly which network will broadcast the show has yet to be revealed.

This isn't the first time the company's pursued bizarre PR schemes. LIGATT has been offering to train anyone (regardless of computer experience) <a href=http://www.ligattsecurity.com/solutions/hacker-in-15-minutes>to become a hacker in 15 minutes for a while. I have a tough time imagining that a show documenting what computer security experts do would be engaging enough to actually retain an audience, but stranger things have happened.

Source: <a href=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/computer-hackers-get-their-own-reality-tv-show-114936049.html>PR Newswire

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Arachon

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Jun 23, 2008
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This... Is just so unbelievably stupid. Do they even know what "hacking" *is*?
 

Weaver

Overcaffeinated
Apr 28, 2008
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I have a bit of a background in computer security. While you would think breaking systems would be super cool (and it IS when you're the one doing it). Watching someone take literally hours or even days to find security vulnerabilities would be beyond boring.

If you think it's like the movies where red alarms go off and progress bars pop up and evil AI's flood the screens with "INTRUDER DETECTED" you've seen way too many sci-fi movies. It would just look like hours and hours of random crap and text, until a guy's command line says root:
 

Andy Powell

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Mar 18, 2010
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And networks wonder why the viewwership is down? They may as well just broadcast a test pattern for this things timeslot. It'd probably have the same viewwership.
 

Stuberfinn88

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Nov 13, 2009
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So... are we going to be watching the back of some guys head for 30 mins to an hour as he toils away on a computer? Cause that's the vibe I'm getting with this shows premise....
 

kitsuta

<Clever Title Here>
Jan 10, 2011
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They'll just do what they always do for reality TV shows about boring subjects: turn up the DramaLlama dial.

Interpersonal drama makes anything interesting enough for people to watch. People like to see characters interact, engage in conflict (verbal or otherwise), and resolve disputes. And with 168 (maybe 40-60 in this case) hours of footage per episode for a weekly show, it's not that hard to create characters out of people and drama out of day-to-day life... as demonstrated by this one-episode reality TV show [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwepkVurCI].
 

Canid117

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Oct 6, 2009
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodHacking

that is all we will see
 

esperandote

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Feb 25, 2009
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"Who wouldn't want to see a show on the most controversial security expert in the history of computer security?"
Anyone that isn't a computer geek plus all computer geeks that think little of the project.
 

Plurralbles

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Jan 12, 2010
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the video game tester one was an idea I had way back in 2000. Which makes me as capable as a television writer...

Sad.


Anyway, I'll probably watch it sometime. Why not.
 

Catalyst6

Dapper Fellow
Apr 21, 2010
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sheic99 said:
I really hope this show is time lapsed.
It's actually going to be done in the same format as 24, so that it's as realistic as possi-

THIS JUST IN! In a record-setting move, "The World's No. 1 Hacker" has become the first television show to be canceled within the first half-hour of showing, resulting in the station filling the rest of the hour-long slot with a rerun of COPS.
 

Fuselage

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Nov 18, 2009
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Hacking will not grab the attention of the average blob that watches reality TV shows.
 

SturmDolch

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May 17, 2009
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This sounds lame, as others have said. But what also caught my attention in the article was this line:

folks competing to be videogame testers
Seriosuly? There's a reality show about that? Oh. Looks like there is. [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/01/the-testers/]

Man, that's like competing to work at at The Ritz. As a janitor.
 

Formica Archonis

Anonymous Source
Nov 13, 2009
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Canid117 said:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HollywoodHacking

that is all we will see
And I got 3rd party ninja'd because I was just about to post the Penny Arcade strip that page quotes.



Sturmdolch said:
This sounds lame, as others have said. But what also caught my attention in the article was this line:

folks competing to be videogame testers
Seriosuly? There's a reality show about that? Oh. Looks like there is. [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/01/the-testers/]

Man, that's like competing to work at at The Ritz. As a janitor.
What, you say that like opening a DVD tray for 12-16 hours a day isn't fun!
 

Dooly95

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Jun 13, 2009
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Why does this... oh I don't know, sound really desperate on the producer's side, and really, really weird on the company's side?

Just because everyone's doing it doesn't mean it's fun. Or right.

It's just because producing one is cheaper than other normal things. Like dramas or comedy sitcoms.