You’ve probably seen leetspeak, also known as 1337 or “l33t,” somewhere on the Internet or in a movie about computer hacking. It’s essentially regular English, but with more hacker slang and with certain letters changed to numbers. In this blog, we cover the history of leetspeak and how it applies to you.
Penetration testing has been around since human beings first began trying to understand their enemies’ thought processes. Ancient armies all over the world conducted mock battles and games to figure out how other armies might undermine their strategies or get around their forces. This continued for centuries upon centuries until, inevitably, the tech world got in on the act.
Several years ago, the DoD passed a regulation, DoD 8570, which stated that all Information Assurance (IA) personnel were required by law to be compliant. Certification is necessary to work with this data, whether that be DoD staff, contractors, or partners.
There are pioneers in every profession, and computer hacking is no exception. In fact, because literally, anybody with the right tech setup can launch their hacking career, the stories of famous hackers are often less glamorous than most people might expect.
The cybersecurity world is replete with creative portmanteaus, so it pays to at least familiarize yourself with the most common ones you might encounter.
Many assume that “cyber” is a portmanteau derived from other words, but it’s not. Here’s a look at where the word cyber came from, the evolution of its usage, and a glimpse at the debate among the technical community on what it means and how to phrase it.