April 18,2008: It's now gotten out that Internet security operators have been hacking hacker tools as a way to find out who the hackers are, how they operate, and to shut them down. This shouldn't be surprising, as many hacker weapons are small programs inserted into PCs to turn those computers into zombies (secretly controlled by hackers for sending spam, storing files or whatever), or simply to steal new information the user puts on that machine. Like all software, the "hackware" often has flaws that can be exploited by a more expert programmer. It's those flaws in operating systems, browsers or other programs, that enable the hackers to gain access in the first place.

Actually, criminal hackers have been hacking each others software for some time now, usually to get control of PCs already turned into zombies. All this counter-hacking has led to changes in the way the black hats (criminal hackers) operate. More of them have been encrypting their software, or building defensive capabilities in. This doesn't prevent their stuff from getting hacked, it just makes it more difficult.

Hacking the hackers has been am Internet security tool for years, and is also used by Cyber War practitioners. For obvious reasons, it just doesn't get much publicity.