GeoHot takes job at Facebook

[tlyee61]

Techunwrapped revealed that Hotz, the hacker known as Geohot who pioneered jailbreaking the iPhone and became embroiled in a lawsuit with Sony after publishing the PlayStation 3's root keys, has taken a position at Facebook.

Joshua Hill (P0sixninja), a member of the Chronic-Dev Team -- the group responsible for greenpois0n, the premiere iOS jailbreak software -- said in a video that Hotz declined an iOS jailbreak challenge (finding a boot ROM exploit in the iPad 2) to keep out of the media spotlight and also to focus on his new job at Facebook.

Then Gabe Rivera of Techmeme confirmed Techunwrapped's report in a tweet by sending readers to Hotz's Facebook page, where, on June 22, Hotz wrote: "Facebook is really an amazing place to work...first hackathon over." Speculation has it that Hotz is working on the long-awaited Facebook app for the iPad.

Facebook's hiring of Geohot signifies a shift in corporate temperament when it comes to hackers. The days of lawsuits and retaliation may be ending as more tech giants partner with rather than punish the anonymous hunters on the Web.

Consider the actions of Microsoft. After a multitude of awesome projects stemmed from people tinkering with the Kinect, Microsoft opened its arms to hackers and then released the Xbox peripheral's SDK beta kit to the public.

Hotz's new employer won't make every hacker's problems go away, but it does mean that talent hunters and the companies they represent are wising up to how the Internet now works.
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[Schlupi]

That's pretty damn cool. He is gonna be rakin' in the dough now...

 

[shakirmoledina]

i dont think facebook would really care for hackers considering the "owners" are not business minded (as in working just for money). Geohot must be really good to get a job at FB even after so much notoriety but in fact, this notoriety could be teh reason

 

[redact]

now if he'd had that job before the lawsuit...

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Good for him, it'd be a shame to let his gifts go to waste.

 

[Thesolcity]

What would happen if they employed lulzsec?

 

[coolbho3000]

I've known about this for months. I have a friend who worked at Google who said his friend sits right next to him at Facebook. I didn't believe it until I saw that Geohot's employer (Facebook) was on the publicly accessible section of Facebook his profile for a while. I'm not sure why it didn't get picked up earlier.

 

[Costello]

geohot has access to my personal data, photos and password? no way

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[tv]255-179[/tv]

 

[Gitaroo]

What would happen if they employed lulzsec?

we will never find out because exposed memebers will be arrested and wont even have a chance to work there in the first place. Non exposed members will never come out and admit it or they will be arrested.

 

[Thesolcity]

What would happen if they employed lulzsec?

we will never find out because exposed memebers will be arrested and wont even have a chance to work there in the first place. Non exposed members will never come out and admit it or they will be arrested.

I meant that as a joke.

 

[ferofax]

for all we know, lulzsec might already be one of Facebooks faceless employees. somebody good at hacking that nobody knows about.

 

[SamAsh07]

Job at Facebook? Why not at Sony itself

 

[Satangel]

Good news for hackers and us too. I'm especially happy by the bit of Microsoft giving out their SDK of Kinect. Nice one MS!

 

[Jamstruth]

Facebook's hiring of Geohot signifies a shift in corporate temperament when it comes to hackers. The days of lawsuits and retaliation may be ending as more tech giants partner with rather than punish the anonymous hunters on the Web.

Consider the actions of Microsoft. After a multitude of awesome projects stemmed from people tinkering with the Kinect, Microsoft opened its arms to hackers and then released the Xbox peripheral's SDK beta kit to the public.

Hotz's new employer won't make every hacker's problems go away, but it does mean that talent hunters and the companies they represent are wising up to how the Internet now works.
[/p]

I'm not so sure. If Sony, Microsoft or similar had hired him then maybe but Facebook? That started off in a college dorm and moved up into the big leagues. The owner is in his 20s and, I'm sure, pretty savvy with all the hacking business.. THis isn't a corporate shift. This is somebody spotting a talent and employing them to help improve their own defences. THough Geohot with access to my stuff? *starts deleting facebook things*. How much say Zuckerburg (sp?) has in the running of Facebook now though I don't know.

 

[Paarish]

first facebook... and then... the world
muhahahaha

 

[SifJar]

Facebook have hired hackers before. A guy (someone Putnam I think) hacked facebook years ago, spread a worm through it that made everyone's page look like MySpace or something like that. He even infected an account called "The Creator" used internally within Facebook. They got in touch and hired him.

http://www.quora.com/How-did-Chris-Putnam-...red-at-Facebook

 

[iMythD]

Good on him

hE should be proud!

 

[naved.islam14]

Wonder what would happen if he went under cover and hacked facebook

 

[KingdomBlade]

I'm not so sure. If Sony, Microsoft or similar had hired him then maybe but Facebook? That started off in a college dorm and moved up into the big leagues. The owner is in his 20s and, I'm sure, pretty savvy with all the hacking business.. THis isn't a corporate shift. This is somebody spotting a talent and employing them to help improve their own defences. THough Geohot with access to my stuff? *starts deleting facebook things*. How much say Zuckerburg (sp?) has in the running of Facebook now though I don't know.

He got notoriety for starting a website that makes people pick who looks more attractive and he got the pictures without even the least bit of consent for personal data. (while he was in college) Which is probably why he also grabs a bunch of very infamous people and turns them into workers.

Zuckerberg, a fucking brilliant businessman who really doesn't care about money in the slightest, even with a fucking wealth of $13.5 Billion.

And GeoHot is definitely utilizing his talents and stuff properly in going here. At least he's not being a douchebag. Then again he is working at Facebook. Hmmmm.

 

[FAST6191]

It is maybe not quite so overt and it does not always work (corporate culture and the way many hackers like to work are not always aligned so well) but I would hardly call this a new phenomenon.

A 2005 vintage request from MS http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/04/mi..._hat_job_pitch/ for similar people.