DARKMARKET

main routes into third-party computers. They were digital holes in the
armour of software and computer systems, which the manufacturer
had failed to spot. Once a company like Microsoft or Adobe noticed
that a hacker had penetrated Windows or a ubiquitous application like
PDF Reader by using a particular vulnerability, it was then able to
close it or 'patch it' by writing a specific security fix, as it is known.
Next, it would alert its customers to download the fix and install it,
thus blocking that route into the customer's computer. If the user failed
to update the fix, the computer could still fall foul of a virus exploiting
that particular vulnerability, should it come calling.

Super security hackers like Vision would often spot vulnerabilities
before anybody else and so, in the spirit of good neighbourliness, he
offered practical advice to users on how to protect themselves.

But his good deeds went further. He also gave his services free of
charge to the FBI station in San Francisco, and the Feds were only too
happy to accept the help.

No challenge on the Web was too great for Max Vision, no vuln
erability too small for him to spot. But of course in order to seek out
those vulnerabilities, he needed to probe computer systems all the
time. He knew this put him at the centre of a profound dilemma that
affected the computing industry with serious ramifications. In order
to protect yourself from criminal or 'blackhat' hackers, it was sometimes
necessary as a 'whitehat' hacker to ascertain how to break into systems
- an act that might in itself have been illegal.

It is almost unavoidable for 'whitehats' to sniff around large public
computer systems, just as 'blackhats' do. The difference is that the
'whitehats' will not exploit for personal gain any vulnerability they find.
The 'blackhats' probably will.

Operating out of the little house he shared with Kimi, Vision found
that whenever he came across a network anomaly or problem, he could
not resist the urge to correct it. In 1998 he discovered a dangerous
vulnerability on the networks serving a series of government agencies,
including parts of the Pentagon. This was a hole in their defences
through which all manner of mischievous worms could wriggle. Liter
ally hundreds of thousands of government computers could be compro
mised by skilled hackers working anywhere in the world. Again
demonstrating his patriotic commitment, Vision filled these holes with
digital cement to ensure the security of his nation: nobody would be