Bill Marlow began his lecture by posing a simple question.
"Who in here is a hacker?" he asked. When few students admitted their hacking abilities, he said, "Everyone in here should have their hands up, because you need to think like the bad guy."
Marlow's presentation on Wednesday night, called "Hacking for Fun, Profit and Terrorism," introduced a crowd of students to the benefits of being a hacker.
Attendees filled the Cybertorium in the Information Sciences and Technology (IST) Building for the chance to learn from the master hacker. The Security and Risk Analysis (SRA) Club sponsored the event.
Steve Sharer, president of the SRA Club, said this was the second year they invited Marlow to speak at Penn State. He cited Marlow's experience and engaging manner as the main reasons.
"It's hard to find a professor as engaging as he is," Sharer (junior-security and risk analysis) said. "Plus, he really shows that there's a more interesting side to computer security than people realize."
Craig Shannon, vice president of the SRA Club, said he went to the event to take in Marlow's knowledge.
"We like to hear from people in the business," Shannon (senior-security and risk analysis) said. "He brings things like case studies that he's been involved in, and we don't get that in school."
Marlow has a long list of credentials to back up his on-the-job knowledge, including a stint with the CIA.
He admitted, however, that he wasn't the typical CIA agent.
"I do not look like James Bond," he said during the lecture. "You will never find a spy who looks like him ... then everybody freaking knows!"
His looks were just one of the many personal faults that he revealed during the presentation.
He also told attending students that "being the bad guy" isn't always a bad thing -- it can be enjoyable, too.
"I hack a government site monthly," he said. "I do that for two reasons: One, I enjoy it immensely, and two, they're arrogant bastards."
After thoroughly revealing his experience and admitting he had "no morals," Marlow presented examples of how hacking knowledge can help people who are trying to protect information and not illegally access it.
In one instance, he said a large film company encrypted all of their films so that if they were stolen, they could not be accessed. However, a fire destroyed many of their servers and when the films were recovered, they could not be uncoded.
He said the company came to him in desperation and he, along with a team of hackers, recovered the information quickly. They charged nothing for their help, but Marlow said he's been rewarded in other ways.
"I get free pre-release movies," he said. "I had Star Trek six months before any of you saw it.'
Marlow said students can start hacking by creating a few fake Facebook accounts for themselves.
"After the game on Saturday, have a few beers, create a new persona," he said.
