As computing crawled out of its niche and into the mainstream 15, 20 years ago, hackers often painted themselves as a necessary good. Independent, savvy, dedicated individuals who felt that by exposing weaknesses, they were making the computing world a better place.

Software companies, like Microsoft, rarely agreed. Hackers were frozen out of corporate positions, maligned in the press, and the subjects of a Cold War that endured for over a decade.

It didn’t stop them.

Ultimately, the old adage ‘keep your friends close; your enemies closer’ kicked in and several companies beganconsulting with and hiring hackers to help them build safer, more robust products.

As Microsoft battles a year which may be remembered more for its security holes than anything else I was fascinated to read - Ina Fried’s C|Net series about how Microsoft has finally thawed and begun brining in hackers (”Bug Hunters’) every 6 months to work with their security teams.

Battling the generations of mistrust, the two sides break up the formality with bug costumes, late-night scavenger hunts, and joke cracking.

2 years into this glasnost, will better relations mean a safer product for you in the years to come? One can only imagine it’s a step in the right direction.

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