Actually, for me the comment is so sarcastic to the point of being funny (hunter: do you really think that that vigilante act would bring justice or would it be disproportionate?). But, these trollers are lying when they say "look, because we did this, it shows that you should be more alert to people who can also do it but actually intend harm." Or, "we've hurt your feelings, maybe you need to toughen up cupcakes, next time it could concern something that actually mattered." To me, the serious trollers do intend harm for the most part and they say it in this interview. Their excuses are a lie. They are the practical jokers that go overboard, placing white hats over their black hats when things go bad.
I saw a documentary once of a team of people boarding a plane during its refueling and restocking at an airport. They ran down the aisles jumping around. Their message of "look what we can do and no one can stop us" should be taken seriously, and they had then intent to help.
If someone wants to do some white-hat cracking for real benefit, why not announce it before the act has taken place and do it in a way where the recipient can at least first respond and say, "no, we'll do it ourselves" or thanks go ahead. If they ignore such a warning, the cracker can go ahead and at least have some form of recourse. I can't see many crackers doing that anyway, and the whole area's shady. White-hat crackers are usually treated like criminals.
The desire to shock or somehow get a rise out of somebody, supposedly in the interest of education, often reveals that the perpetrator really just wants to shock someone.
I saw a documentary once of a team of people boarding a plane during its refueling and restocking at an airport. They ran down the aisles jumping around. Their message of "look what we can do and no one can stop us" should be taken seriously, and they had then intent to help.
If someone wants to do some white-hat cracking for real benefit, why not announce it before the act has taken place and do it in a way where the recipient can at least first respond and say, "no, we'll do it ourselves" or thanks go ahead. If they ignore such a warning, the cracker can go ahead and at least have some form of recourse. I can't see many crackers doing that anyway, and the whole area's shady. White-hat crackers are usually treated like criminals.