SCIENCE AND EDUCATION
Facebook hires infamous playstation hacker `geohot`
Baku, June 28 (AZERTAC). Facebook has friended a celebrated figure in hacking circles who recently tangled with Sony, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The company confirmed that it hired George Hotz, a young programming whiz who is also known by the handle GeoHot. A Facebook spokeswoman did not say what he was hired to do.
Hotz gained notoriety in 2008 by creating a program that allowed iPhone users to modify their devices to run on other carrier networks, despite AT&T having an exclusive deal with Apple to provide service to iPhone users in the United States.
He is also known for releasing instructions that allowed Sony PlayStation 3 owners to modify their game consoles to run unauthorized applications and pirated games. Sony sued him, enraging a group of hackers called Anonymous who retaliated by flooding the Japanese technology company`s servers with data traffic. As that was happening, hackers broke into Sony`s systems and stole personal information for roughly 100 million customer accounts. Sony announced it had settled the claims against Hotz just before the breach occurred.
Hotz`s job at Facebook was reported earlier by online publications that include TechUnwrapped.
The term hacking, though now often used to indicate illegal activity, was originally associated with tinkering and experimentation -- a tradition that Facebook encourages. The company displays a sign with the word "hack" in large letters at the entrance to its Palo Alto, Calif., offices. The word can be found on other signs throughout the company`s hallways.
The company also regularly holds all-night sessions that it calls "hackathons," encouraging engineers to build code and build new products.