ORLANDO, Fla. --- Computer “hacker” is a term most people view with a mixture of respect and contempt, and with good reason: the term has undergone a dozen evolutions since its coinage in a computer lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 50 years ago.
Most of us would generally agree with the definition currently posted at Wikipedia: “…a person who breaks into computers and computer networks, either for profit or motivated by the challenge.”
Not Andrew von Ramin-Mapp. The CEO of Data Analyzers LLC, (www.datanalyzers.com), recently launched the Sunshine State Hacktacular Challenge to identify promising new hackers. The reward---a career position as a junior data recovery engineer at the Orlando firm with a salary range in the high $30s, generous performance bonuses and even a relocation allowance.
Von Ramin-Mapp’s company specializes in data recovery and computer forensics, a highly specialized field that evolves almost daily as new data security measures are introduced.
Born and raised in Germany, von Ramin-Mapp was trained as an industrial engineer but soon found the profession monotonous. He emigrated to the U.S., where he landed a job in a corporate IT division and studied computer security.
“Everybody and their brother was getting into computer security,” von Ramin-Mapp said. “I was looking for something a little more adventurous.”
The hacker community appealed to him.
“The best hackers are self-taught,” von Ramin-Mapp said. “They are characteristically intuitive, inquisitive, persistent almost to the point of being obsessive, and generally more comfortable thinking outside the box than in,” he explained.
But the shadowy world characterized by more than 20 major motion pictures and thousands of newspaper and magazine articles held less appeal.
“I wanted to find ways to use hacking skills to earn a living that would benefit people,” von Ramin-Mapp said.
Enter data recovery and computer forensics. The work is demanding, stimulating, profitable and best of all, “no two jobs are ever the same,” von Ramin-Mapp said.
And the volume of work is exploding, von Ramin-Mapp said. Expanded hard drive capacities and the wave of ‘smart’ devices such as iPhones and Android have generated a large and growing universe of customers and clients.
“The computer manufacturers won’t tell you this, but the larger the hard drive capacity, the more things can go wrong,” von Ramin-Mapp said.
And besides routine computer crashes, a host of problems sends clients to von Ramin-Mapp’s door, from fires and roof leaks to vindictive employees and malicious-minded outsiders---those erstwhile “hackers,” although most computer professionals prefer the term “crackers.”
“The data recovery industry has more work than it can handle today,” von Ramin-Mapp said. “We have one position available now and we are a small company. We could hire as many as three more people this year if we can find the skill sets,” he said.
To see if your hacking skills qualify, visit www.datanalyzers.com and click on the Sunshine State Hacktacular Challenge.
